Davis County expands pool eligible to get COVID-19 booster shots, per CDC
AP
This Dec. 23, 2020, file photo shows a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in the first round of staff vaccinations at a hospital in Denver. Federal regulators are expected to authorize the mixing and matching of COVID-19 booster shots this week in an effort to provide flexibility for those seeking to maintain protection against the coronavirus. The upcoming announcement by the Food and Drug Administration is likely to come along with authorization for boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)FARMINGTON — The Davis County Health Department is expanding the pool of people who can get COVID-19 booster shots to certain recipients of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
Certain recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were the only pool that could get boosters, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. But the federal agency on Thursday announced that it was expanding the pool eligible to get booster shots, precipitating Friday’s Davis County Health Department announcement.
The health department will start offering booster shots to the expanded pool on Monday at its drive-thru vaccination clinic at the Legacy Events Center at 151 S. 1100 West in Farmington. Appointments are required and can be made online at go.usa.gov/xAZFD. Assistance is available by phone at 801-525-4900.
As of Friday, the Weber-Morgan Health Department website indicated it was still only offering booster shots to certain Pfizer vaccine recipients.
Davis County Health Department spokesman Trevor Warner recommends that those interested act soon, referencing the possible expansion of the pool of people who can be vaccinated to children aged 5-11. As is, only those aged 12 and over may get vaccinated.
“We need to get as many booster doses administered as we can right now because soon, anyone ages 5- to 11-years-old will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine and, as a result, booster dose appointments will not be as widely available as they are right now,” Warner said.
As the pandemic lingers on, debate about booster shots to redouble protection against the virus has increased. Previously, only those who had initially received the Pfizer vaccine could get booster shots, and only if they were 65 or older, lived in a long-term care facility, had underlying medical conditions or had jobs that put them at higher risk of exposure to the virus.
Now, those who received the Moderna vaccine may also get boosters, though the conditions applicable to Pfizer vaccine recipients apply. Also, six months must have elapsed since the final dose of the two-dose Moderna regimen.
Those 18 and older who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine regimen may also get boosters, per the plans announced Friday.
The new CDC recommendation, the Davis County Health Department said, allows “mixing-and-matching” of COVID-19 vaccines. “This means people can receive a different type of booster vaccine than the type of vaccine they originally received,” the health department said.
