Hot off the press is the update by the FDA (CDC formal guidelines are not yet posted) as stated in this news release dated March 29th, 2022.
The agency amended the emergency use authorizations for Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines as follows:
- A second booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine or Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine may be administered to individuals 50 years of age and older at least 4 months after receipt of a first booster dose of any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine.
- A second booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine may be administered to individuals 12 years of age and older with certain kinds of immunocompromise at least 4 months after receipt of a first booster dose of any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine. These are people who have undergone solid organ transplantation, or who are living with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise.
- A second booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine may be administered at least 4 months after the first booster dose of any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine to individuals 18 years of age and older with the same certain kinds of immunocompromise.
What now? Well, you have a CHOICE if you fall into any of the above descriptions to decide on a second COVID booster.
- You can call our office at ext 120 to schedule for a Moderna (we do not carry Pfizer at BWPC) second booster dose which we have available on Thursdays in Eldersburg or Tuesdays at Foundry Row
- You can go to your local pharmacy for a dose
What if you were recently sick with COVID over the last few months? There is evidence to suggest that your native immunity will keep you even better protected than the vaccines for at least 90 days or more. Therefore, you may choose to delay any additional booster doses until after that point from your native illness. Regardless of this clinical consideration, you can also choose to do a second booster now based on the FDA recommendations of just timing of boosters.
Last, there may be new variations of the current vaccines available later this year around the time of the annual flu shot season but the second booster should not interfere with future shots. We await more information about this.
Please know that if you are asking for personalized, clinical guidance from your clinician, and it is not asked during a routine visit, we may need to schedule a brief tele-visit or visit to ensure that we have time to adequately answer your specific questions.
We will update our sites once we get additional information from the CDC.
In wellness,
Your BW Primary Care Team.