COVID-19 vaccine booster shots now available at Magruder Hospital, CVS pharmacy

Jon Stinchcomb, Port Clinton News Herald
·2 min read
Katie Crowell, director of nursing at the Ottawa County Health Department, draws a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Katie Crowell, director of nursing at the Ottawa County Health Department, draws a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

PORT CLINTON — With the spread of COVID-19 trending back upward locally and across the country, Ottawa County has begun to roll out vaccination booster shots now available to eligible residents considered at higher risk.

Magruder Hospital in Port Clinton on Friday announced the availability of booster shots for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

At this time, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are being offered to those over the age of 65 and those between age 18-64 within a high-risk category, such as the immunocompromised, who have completed their first prior vaccination series six or more months ago.

Those booster shots, as well as the initial Moderna COVID-19 vaccine series, are available to those eligible patients by appointment only at The Magruder Pharmacy from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Sunday. The requirement to make an appointment marks a change in policy from the hospital's initial announcement that the Moderna booster shots would be available on a walk-in basis.

The pharmacy is just past the emergency room at Magruder Hospital at 615 Fulton Street, Suite 100.

Magruder’s Community Clinic, 730 Jefferson Street, also will be offering the Moderna booster shots to those eligible, which patients can schedule online at magruderhospital.com.

While Magruder is only offering the Moderna vaccine at this time, the Ottawa County Health Department is offering the other two vaccines by Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.

More: With COVID on rise, Ottawa County continues free at-home testing

Sue Hein, a longtime nurse at the Ottawa County Health Department, delivers an injection of the COVID-19 vaccine in a patient's arm during a clinic held in Port Clinton earlier this year.
Sue Hein, a longtime nurse at the Ottawa County Health Department, delivers an injection of the COVID-19 vaccine in a patient's arm during a clinic held in Port Clinton earlier this year.

On Friday, the local health department hosted a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic offering 50 doses of the booster shots. The department has also been offering the initial Pfizer vaccine series to children age 12 and older.

CVS Health also began offering the Moderna booster shots on Friday, which in addition to the Pfizer booster, are now available at many of its pharmacy locations across the country.

Based on new guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, individuals may choose which vaccine they receive as a booster dose, allowing for a mix and match approach, meaning the booster does not have to be the same brand as the one received for the initial series.

A total of more than 9,800 CVS Pharmacy locations are offering the booster shots, including Moderna or Pfizer, as of Friday. CVS has already administered over 34 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.

“The systems we’ve built and our deep experience in providing vaccinations allows us to play a leading role in administering booster shots to eligible populations,” said Dr. Troyen Brennan, chief medical officer of CVS Health. “We also remain focused on providing easy and convenient opportunities for the unvaccinated to receive their first doses.”

jstinchcom@gannett.com

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Twitter: @JonDBN

This article originally appeared on Port Clinton News Herald: COVID vaccine booster available at Magruder, CVS in Port Clinton Ohio