Oklahoma preordered updated COVID-19 vaccines; shots will be available in coming days

Dana Branham, Oklahoman
·2 min read
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Updated COVID-19 booster shots will be available to Oklahomans in the coming days, now that federal health authorities have signed off on them.

The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have now authorized bivalent vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna that will include two components: one that matches the original COVID-19 strain, and one that has been updated to better protect against the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants that have dominated cases in recent months.

In Oklahoma, nearly all positive tests sequenced in August were the BA.5 subvariant, according to the state's latest epidemiological report.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky signed off on the updated shots Thursday evening, a few hours after the CDC's vaccine advisory committee voted to recommend them.

"If you are eligible, there is no bad time to get your COVID-19 booster and I strongly encourage you to receive it," she said in a statement.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health has preordered supplies of the updated COVID-19 vaccines. Some shipments have already arrived in the state, and more vaccines will arrive Tuesday, spokeswoman Erica Rankin-Riley said in an email.

So far, the state has ordered about 38,000 bivalent vaccine doses: 14,800 of the Moderna vaccine and 23,400 of the Pfizer vaccine.

Th FDA authorized Moderna's bivalent vaccine for people 18 and older and Pfizer's for people 12 and older. They can each be given at least two months after a primary series or booster shot.

A vial containing a COVID-19 vaccine is pictured July 23, 2021, at the Mercy COVID-19 vaccine clinic inside the Meinders Neuroscience Institute in Oklahoma City.
A vial containing a COVID-19 vaccine is pictured July 23, 2021, at the Mercy COVID-19 vaccine clinic inside the Meinders Neuroscience Institute in Oklahoma City.

The shots will be especially important for people in higher-risk categories, said Dr. Dale Bratzler, the University of Oklahoma's chief COVID-19 officer.

"In Oklahoma and in the United States, people 70 and above are still at great risk of hospitalization from this infection," he said. "So those folks particularly should get this bivalent vaccine."

While the vaccines authorized Thursday are only available to people 12 and older, the CDC said in a statement that the agency plans to recommend updated COVID-19 boosters for other pediatric age groups in the coming weeks.

Some vaccination sites are already scheduling appointments for the new boosters. Walgreens' website, for example, allows scheduling updated boosters at several locations in Oklahoma City as soon as Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahomans could get a COVID booster shot as soon as next week