Looking to get your next COVID-19 booster — now?
Walgreens and Rite Aid have begun giving out second booster shots along with Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties since federal health officials Tuesday greenlighted them for all Americans who are 50 and older.
Second boosters are also available to anyone who initially had Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine and those with compromised immunity.
Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties started the latest round of booster shots shortly after Tuesday’s OK from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Within the hour we had a few people arriving,” said Dr. Jennifer Tong, associate chief medical officer for Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. “And we were ready for them.”
Booster seekers were busy scouting out locations where shots were available Wednesday and sharing them on social media, where they celebrated securing the extra jab.
Santa Clara County booster appointments can be made online at www.sccfreevax.com where appointments are available during the day, evenings and weekends at five county locations.
Contra Costa County said second boosters are now available at county-run vaccination clinics.
Walgreens said it would begin taking walk-in appointments Wednesday through Friday as store capacity allows, and that online appointment scheduling will be available via the Walgreens app or online at Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine starting Friday.
Rite Aid said Wednesday that second COVID-19 boosters are now available at all of its locations for eligible individuals who either may walk in immediately or schedule an appointment at www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/scheduler.
CVS said eligible patients “soon” will be able to schedule an additional dose four months after their initial booster at CVS.com, MinuteClinic.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app. Same-day or walk-in vaccination appointments may be possible, CVS said, but subject to local demand.
The California Department of Public Health announced support for second booster doses Wednesday by the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, representing health officials in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, a move that may clear the way for more providers to begin giving shots.
Kaiser Permanente said Wednesday afternoon that it expects to be able to administer second booster doses by appointment to the newly eligible populations “by Tuesday, if not sooner.” Sutter Health said Tuesday it was waiting for further guidance from health officials.
Tong said that it was easy for providers like Santa Clara County to get up and running for second boosters quickly because the shots are the same as the initial boosters authorized last fall.
“Any provider that’s already providing boosters should be able to provide them because the shots are the same,” Tong said. “If for some reason a health care provider is not prepared, as always our county health care system is here as a safety net.”
As with the first round of boosters, the second drew criticism from some quarters in the medical community. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist at UC-San Francisco, and Michael Daignault, an emergency physician at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, wrote in an article Wednesday that the decision “is not in line with our available data nor other countries’ policies.” They argued further boosting seems contrary to the goal of preventing severe illness and aimed more at tamping down mild infections, which they said “does not make long-term immunogenic sense.”
But others like Dr. Bob Wachter, who chairs the UCSF medical department, said Wednesday that it’s “important to also say there’s a small but real risk” that a breakthrough COVID-19 infection will lead to “long COVID” and chronic illness.
President Biden spoke about efforts to battle the virus Wednesday before rolling up his sleeve to receive his second booster.
“It didn’t hurt a bit,” Biden said. “We know boosters are critical to providing an additional layer of protection. Those who are 50 and older as well as those who are immunocompromised can now get even more protection than they have from the first doses.”
Biden announced a new COVID.gov website, which he said would serve as a “one-stop shop where anyone in America can find what they need to navigate the virus.”
“Free vaccines and boosters, free at-home tests, high-quality tests, and for the latest information about the spread of COVID-19 in your community, you can get that immediately,” Biden continued. “The bottom line: No longer will Americans have to scour the internet to find vaccines, treatments tests or masks, it’s all there.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com