The new 2023–2024 COVID vaccine is here and, like scoring a reservation at Kann, it’s one of the hottest appointments around. Though it’s nothing like the hunger games of trying to get the original COVID vaccine in 2021, many medical clinics have not yet received shipments of the newly approved vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which target the XBB.1.5 variant. Though pharmacy chains have, you may have to check several before striking gold.

A word of advice: here at PoMo, our staff found this vaccine’s side effects to be stronger than previous boosters, and suggest planning a lazy couple days at home. We called around to several chain and independent pharmacies so that you don’t have to. Here’s what we found:

CVS

Plenty of same-day appointments at various pharmacies around the city.

Fairley’s Pharmacy

As of October 9, the pharmacy was stocking Pfizer, and patients could get walk-in vaccinations.

Fred Meyer

As of October 9, the online scheduler was not showing any availability for the next 14 days at any nearby locations.

LeCare Pharmacy

This independent and family-owned LeCare Pharmacy in Hollywood—which has been our go-to for easy walk-in boosters—exhausted its initial supply but has Pfizer available again as of October 10. The pharmacy advises patients to check its website for updates.

Pharmacy.com

This independently owned pharmacy on SE 82nd Avenue has not yet received the vaccine; its shipments are expected to arrive late October.

Rite Aid

It’ll be a while. The earliest appointment date we could find was October 24, though many locations did not have appointments until November.

Safeway/Albertsons

Safeway has the worst interface of any pharmacy website we checked, requiring would-be patients to click on their preferred location…then on every single calendar day to check availability. But if you’re looking for a quick appointment, suburban stores have openings within a couple days.

Walgreens

You’ll have to be patient. The earliest appointment we found was on October 18 in Cedar Mill.