COVID Booster Shots Now Available For More NJ Teens

NEW JERSEY — State health officials are urging residents to get vaccinated against the coronavirus as eligibility expands and the number of new cases climbs due to a growing number of variants.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week recommended expanded use of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 16 and 17 who were vaccinated at least six months ago, regardless of prior health conditions.

Federal officials have said the benefit of a single dose of the Pfizer booster outweigh the risks of myocarditis and pericarditis in people ages 16 and 17.Federal officials have said the benefit of a single dose of the Pfizer booster outweigh the risks of myocarditis and pericarditis in people ages 16 and 17.

This was initially determined in a study of about 200 participants ages 18 to 55, which the Food and Drug Administration said supports expanding the booster to children ages 16 and 17. Additional data supporting this conclusion later emerged, and post-authorization/post-marketing studies to assess known serious risks of myocarditis and pericarditis studies continue, the FDA said last week.

Everyone 18 and older has been eligible for booster shots since Nov. 19 regardless of prior health qualifiers.

Adults can receive a booster six months after getting a second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or two months after a Johnson & Johnson shot.

Only Pfizer has been authorized to provide booster shots for residents ages 16 and 17. Residents can visit covid19.nj.gov/finder to locate a vaccination site.

"With vaccine immunity waning over time and the continued threat of the Delta, and now Omicron, variants, the Department of Health encourages everyone to get their booster dose," state health officials said in a release. "The Pfizer booster doses are available and recommended for individuals 16 years and older six months after completion of their primary Pfizer vaccination."

"We continue to see pickup in the rate of boosters being administered, and we strongly encourage everyone who is eligible to get their booster," Gov. Phil Murphy said during a news conference on Monday. "While the rates have picked up, it's not nearly at the level we need it to get."

The expansion was announced ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Garden State administering its first vaccinations, marked by Boost NJ Day on Wednesday.

As part of Boost NJ Day, a new COVID-19 vaccination megasite will open in the former Lord & Taylor store at the Bridgewater Commons Mall in Somerset County, State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli announced. It will be the third megasite reopened in the Garden State, following the reopening of sites in Gloucester and Burlington counties.

The Department of Health said it is also working with more than 2,000 vaccination sites across the state to offer expanded walk-in availability and extended hours to increase vaccine accessibility.

"Walk-in availability and extended hours are important to make access to boosters as easy as possible," Persichilli said. "With cases increasing, it is critical that more residents get boosters because we know immunity is waning."

As of Monday, about 36 percent of New Jersey residents who are eligible for a booster shot have gotten a booster shot, according to the Department of Health.

While the Omicron variant has been identified in New Jersey, Murphy on Monday said the state "overwhelmingly" continues to deal with the Delta variant.

Additionally, while the majority of cases continue to be reported among the unvaccinated, more residents who have been vaccinated are reporting breakthrough cases, including a Monmouth County man who said he was fully vaccinated and had just received a booster shot. Read more here: Monmouth County Man Is NJ's 2nd Confirmed Omicron Case

Eighty percent of New Jersey residents who are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, while 20 percent have been vaccinated, Persichilli said.

This article originally appeared on the Moorestown Patch