Raleigh, North Carolina – Wake County health leaders announced Wednesday that they plan to offer booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine to anyone who wants them by the end of September. Currently, the county only offers boosters to those with severely weakened immune systems.
Health experts said that to get a booster vaccine, you should wait 8 months after you have completed the initial vaccination. In a press release, Wake County health leaders said staff would find an individual’s vaccination record in NC’s COVID vaccine management system to make sure they have received doses of Pfizer or Moderna. Individuals can also carry their vaccination card.
After verifying what vaccine someone has received, individuals will be asked to “certify or declare that you are immunocompromised by signing a digital form,” according to a county health department press release.
Transplant recipient Rodney Cook said that by the time the booster shot is available, he wanted one but it wasn’t that easy.
“I called the Walgreens here and they still didn’t have permission,” Cook explained.
Cook, who is adapting to the current eligibility stretch for people with severely weakened immune systems, was able to receive reinforcement while on vacation.
“At Carolina Beach, at Walgreens,” Cook said.
Although availability may have been delayed at Cook’s premises Walgreens, Wake County officials say they administer reinforcements to the immunocompromised with ease.
“On a given day, we see up to 100 or 120 people coming in to receive booster shocks,” said Dr. Jason Wittes, the director of pharmacy in Wake County.
Currently, U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends the third dose for:
- Cancer patients undergoing active treatment for tumors or blood cancers.
- Organ transplant recipients taking medications to suppress their immune system.
- Anyone with moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency.
- Anyone with advanced or untreated HIV infection.
- Anyone receiving high-dose corticosteroids or other medications that may suppress their immune response.
But when the time comes, Wittes said the county will have no problem meeting the need to administer booster outbreaks at all.
“[It’s] it will probably be up and running on Sept. 20, “Wittes said.” We are waiting for more guidance and guidelines on what this release will look like. “
Only people who have received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine will be eligible for a booster vaccine and will need to receive the same vaccine that was given to them earlier.
However, a booster shot for Johnson and Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine could soon be approved. New research shows that Johnson and Johnson vaccine booster vaccines generated an increase in antibodies against the virus. In a statement Wednesday, Johnson and Johnson said 2,000 people involved in studies in Europe and the United States received the booster shot six months after their first dose.
“There was a nine-fold increase in the antibody response to a booster dose,” Wittes said.
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine differs from the Pfizer and Modern vaccine in that it uses a paralyzed common cold virus, called an adenovirus, to carry instructions to the body to initiate an immune response. Modern and Pfizer vaccines use mRNA to carry instructions.
CNN reported that health officials had previously raised concerns that a Johnson and Johnson booster may not work as effectively because the body would generate a greater immune response to the vector.
But now, health officials have said that at some point a booster dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will be needed.
Wittes said the data is great news for the more than 250,000 North Carolinians who received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
“We’re definitely going to see data in the coming weeks,” Wittes said.
“Our call center has received these requests [for a booster shot] but it’s not just for Johnson and Johnson. It’s also for people who aren’t immunocompromised but want an extra dose or a boost right now, ”Wittes said.
While the booster dose for Pfizer and Moderna will be available to everyone on Sept. 20, Wittes said once the Johnson and Johnson booster is approved, it will also be available.