SIDNEY — Public Health agencies in Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby counties will be administering a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to eligible recipients in conjunction with guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Ohio Department of Health.
For exact dates and times of vaccination clinics in each area check with the county’s health department. Each health department will determine the schedule as to when eligible groups will begin in each county. Earlier this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to allow for use of a single booster dose, to be administered six months or longer after completion of the primary series. In conjunction with the CDC, those eligible are those at highest risk for severe COVID-19, listed below:
• People 65 years and older and residents in long-term care settings should receive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series.
• People ages 50 to 64 with certain underlying medical conditions should receive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series.
• People ages 18 to 49 who are at high risk for severe COVID-19 due to certain underlying medical conditions may receive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series, based on their individual benefits and risks.
• People ages 18-64 who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional setting may receive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series, based on their individual benefits and risks.
“Your local health department’s emergency preparedness program continues to provide life-saving vaccine in your area,” said Melissa Howell, Greene County Health Commissioner. “These programs will continue to help in the fight against COVID-19 as long as there is a need.”
“Vaccination is the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones from severe illness, hospitalization, or death from COVID-19,” said Montgomery County Health Commissioner Jeff Cooper.
“Even as we start some individuals on booster doses, we cannot lose sight of the urgency to receive a first dose,” said Charles Patterson, Clark County Health Commissioner. “We urge individuals who have not yet received a vaccination to do so as quickly as possible to reduce the recent surge of severe illness and hospitalization.”
Many of the people who are now eligible to receive a booster shot received their initial vaccine early in the vaccination program and will benefit from additional protection. With the Delta variant’s dominance as the circulating strain and cases of COVID-19 increasing significantly across the United States, a booster shot will help strengthen protection against severe disease in those populations who are at high-risk for exposure to COVID-19 or the complications from severe disease.
CDC will continue to monitor the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines to ensure appropriate recommendations to keep all Americans safe. The Ohio Department of Health will also evaluate with similar urgency available data in the coming weeks to swiftly make additional recommendations for other populations or people who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
Individuals that have previously received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine or the Moderna vaccine are not eligible to receive a booster dose at this time.
Anyone requesting a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine will be advised of all the qualifying conditions and will self-attest to their own eligibility. The purpose of this additional dose is to strengthen the immune response when the initial immune response to the primary two-dose vaccine series is likely to be insufficient, according to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
