Health department: Bivalent Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines booster shots now available

Staff reports
·1 min read
District Health Department No. 4 (DHD4) is now accepting appointments for residents to receive the newly available bivalent Pfizer COVID-19 booster dose.
District Health Department No. 4 (DHD4) is now accepting appointments for residents to receive the newly available bivalent Pfizer COVID-19 booster dose.

District Health Department No. 4 (DHD4) is now accepting appointments for residents to receive the newly available bivalent Pfizer COVID-19 booster dose.

DHD4 currently does not have the Moderna bivalent COVID-19 booster. Both booster doses have been approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through Emergency Use Authorization and recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The authorized bivalent formulations of the vaccines are approved for use as a single booster dose at least two months following primary or booster vaccination. The Moderna and Pfizer bivalent boosters target two strains of COVID-19 — the original strain of the virus and the most widely-spread omicron variants (BA.4 and BA.5).

“The new bivalent vaccine specifically targets the current circulating strains of COVID-19 that are causing most of the disease here in Northern Michigan and across the country” said Dr. Joshua Meyerson, DHD4 medical director. “It has also been approved for everyone over age 12 as a single booster dose to provide additional protection as we head into the fall and winter months when we may see increased numbers of cases.”

This August 2022 photo provided by Pfizer shows vials of the company's updated COVID-19 vaccine during production in Kalamazoo, Mich. U.S. regulators have authorized updated COVID-19 boosters, the first to directly target today's most common omicron strain. The move on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2022, by the Food and Drug Administration tweaks the recipe of shots made by Pfizer and rival Moderna that already have saved millions of lives. (Pfizer via AP)

Who is eligible?

  • Individuals 12 years of age and older are eligible for a single booster dose of the bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine if it has been at least two months since they completed primary vaccination or received the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.

To schedule a primary series or booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, call 1 (800) 221-0294.

Visit www.dhd4.org/covid19 for additional information on other testing and vaccination options or COVID-19 trends or data in the district.

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Health department: Bivalent Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines booster shots now available