Coloradans are struggling to find the updated COVID-19 vaccine, as the supply remains tight both here and nationwide.

Alisa Thomas, of Denver, said it was vital for her family to get the latest shots because her husband has a compromised immune system and their teenage son has a chronic lung disease and had to be hospitalized the last time he got COVID-19.

Thomas said she tried nearby Walgreens and CVS locations this weekend, but couldn’t get in. King Soopers had appointments, but isn’t in her family’s insurance network, so she would have had to pay $180 out of pocket for each dose. After two days of searching, she finally found appointments at Safeway for her two children on Monday evening.

Their family isn’t the only one struggling to find the shots, Thomas said. On her neighborhood Facebook group, people trade tips about where doses might be available, though often the supply runs out before anyone who sees the tip can act on it, she said.

“It’s crazy,” she said.

It wasn’t this challenging getting the previous shots, Thomas said. She is employed at a hospital and got vaccinated at work, while her 17-year-old twins got the shots at their pediatrician’s office. But their doctor hasn’t been able to get a supply of doses this time, she said.

On Sept. 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its recommendation that everyone six months and older get the updated COVID-19 vaccine. A month later, consumers seeking the shot are still reporting trouble getting it.

Not everyone has struggled. Chris Young, of Aurora, said he got an email from Safeway that mentioned the updated vaccine and was able to make an appointment without much trouble. He said he was surprised to see the receipt for the shot showed it cost $250, but wasn’t particularly worried, since his insurance picked up the tab.

“My appointment was last Friday (made three days in advance) and was hassle-free,” he said in an email.

Earlier in the pandemic, the federal government purchased the vaccine in bulk and distributed it to states. The process wasn’t completely smooth, as demand far exceeded supply in late winter and early spring 2021. Still, it did have some advantages — because the shots were already paid for, people didn’t need to worry about insurance coverage, and providers wouldn’t have to eat the cost if they had leftover doses.

Nearly all insurance plans are required to cover the cost of the shot, but some have been slow to update their systems, so their customers were told they would have to pay out of pocket. The vaccines themselves cost between $115 and $130, depending on type, but the provider can charge additional fees for the work of administering them.

People who don’t have insurance are supposed to be able to get the shot for free through the CDC’s Bridge Access Program. As of Tuesday, however, only 24 locations of any type within 100 miles of Denver participated in the Bridge Access Program and listed available appointments for adults, according to vaccines.gov.

Even people with insurance have had difficulty getting appointments. Barry Kamin, of Loveland, said it took him more than two weeks to get an appointment at a nearby pharmacy in Target. In previous rounds, he got the shot at Medical Center of the Rockies, but hasn’t heard anything about appointments there, let alone the kind of mass-vaccination clinics providers set up before.

Kaiser Permanente Colorado, which also had offered walk-in vaccine clinics for past COVID-19 boosters, doesn’t have them at this time, though people can still get a flu shot without an appointment. Certain Kaiser Permanente clinics in the Denver area didn’t have appointments for the vaccine available until early November.

Andrew Sorensen, spokesman for Kaiser Permanente Colorado, said part of the problem is that providers couldn’t order the vaccines until the CDC authorized them in September, creating a logjam when everyone needed to get them at the same time. Supplies are starting to come in, and walk-in clinics may be available in the coming weeks, he said.

“We understand the frustration resulting from people wanting to get the updated COVID-19 vaccine when they’ve heard it will be available,” he said.

Pharmacy chains also have a constricted supply of vaccines. A search for appointments at CVS pharmacies showed only one available appointment in the Denver area on Tuesday, two on Wednesday and nine on Thursday.

Monica Prinzing, spokeswoman for CVS, said the pharmacy chain was experiencing delays in getting doses from its wholesalers, and will continue to receive them on a rolling basis.

Walgreens listed dozens of appointments as available midweek in the metro area, but it’s not clear if customers could actually book them. Thomas said she repeatedly made appointments with Walgreens on Friday and Saturday, only to have each one canceled about 15 minutes after she made it. The most success she had was when she called Walgreens’ national office and someone scheduled it for her, but that was also canceled about 45 minutes later.

After several rounds of that, Thomas drove to a local Walgreens and asked an employee what was going on. The employee told her that they just didn’t have any doses available, she said.

Jennifer Cotto Jhonson, spokeswoman for Walgreens, said all stores now have enough doses of the vaccine to meet local demand.

“Additional appointments have been added to our scheduler and will continue to be made available at our sites nationwide based on supply. We are updating Walgreens.com and our app with real-time appointment availability so patients have accurate information,” she said.

Finding appointments can be particularly challenging for parents of younger children. Only three locations in the Denver area, all of them CVS pharmacies, had appointments available for children between six months and 11 as of Tuesday, according to vaccines.gov. Older children can receive the same formulation that adults do.

Philip Taylor, of Denver, said his 2-year-old son received the Moderna vaccine last year, and he hoped to get him the updated version this year. They recently switched insurance providers, however, and the clinics included in their Kaiser Permanente plan are only offering the Pfizer shot, he said. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under 5 receive doses from the same manufacturer, though it said kids may receive a different vaccine if the brand they had before isn’t available.

Kaiser Permanente encourages parents to talk to their children’s pediatrician if they have concerns about their vaccine options, but the CDC considers it safe to get different vaccine types, Sorensen said.

Taylor said his family is fortunate enough to be able to go elsewhere and pay out of pocket, if necessary, but most of the chain pharmacies are only offering the vaccine to children who are at least 3. He said he’s going to try Denver Health and Children’s Hospital Colorado to see if either has appointments for toddlers.

“It’s been a surprise that a vaccine that until now has been abundant, now seems scarce,” he said.

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