Thousands more Connecticut residents could soon be eligible for COVID-19 booster shots after FDA authorization. Here’s what to know.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized COVID-19 booster shots for recipients of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, clearing the way for hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents to begin seeking them as soon as this weekend.
“The available data suggest waning immunity in some populations who are fully vaccinated,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting FDA commissioner, said in a statement. “The availability of these authorized boosters is important for continued protection against COVID-19 disease.”
Here is what to know.
Who is now able to get a booster?
If the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorses the FDA’s decision, the following groups will be newly eligible for booster shots:
People 65 and older who received their second dose of the Moderna vaccine at least six months ago
People 18-64 years old who are at high risk of severe COVID-19 due to health conditions who received their second dose of the Moderna vaccine at least six months ago
People 18-64 years old “with frequent institutional or occupational exposure” to COVID-19 who received their second dose of the Moderna vaccine at least six months ago
Anyone 18 or older who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago
Previously, federal regulators had authorized booster shots for most Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine recipients at least six months after their second dose and had signed off on third doses for all moderately or severely immunocompromised Americans.
On Wednesday, the FDA gave vaccine providers permission to “mix and match” vaccine doses, meaning they may administer booster shots of a different vaccine than the one someone received originally.
A spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Public Health said the agency does not have updated numbers on how many people in the state are newly eligible for booster shots.
When will Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters be available?
The FDA’s authorization Wednesday was an important step but not the final one. Next, a CDC advisory panel will meet Thursday to make its own recommendations, which must then be approved by the agency’s director.
If the CDC process goes smoothly, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson recipients could be eligible for booster shots as early as this weekend or early next week.
In Connecticut, booster shots are available at various locations, including public clinics, doctor’s offices and pharmacies including CVS and Walgreens.
Dr. Jim Cardon, Hartford HealthCare’s chief clinical integration officer, urged those showing up for a booster shot to bring their vaccine cards or else risk being turned away.
“At least at the moment, what’s causing us to slow down a little bit is people aren’t bringing their cards with them,” Cardon said. “We’ll either have to go look it up, which slows us down quite a bit. And if we can’t find it, we can’t administer it because we can’t take a risk that we’re giving you the wrong thing.”
Who should get a booster?
While an extremely large swath of Americans are eligible or will imminently become eligible for booster shots, physicians say not everyone needs to rush to get one.
While federal regulators have been nearly unanimous in the usefulness of boosters for people age 65 and older and those with underlying health conditions, they have been divided about the need for younger, healthy people to seek them. Experts say young people who have received two vaccine doses are largely protected from COVID-19 and would receive only marginal benefit from an additional dose.
“It’s not as clear as things were for the first vaccination, when it was clear you could be really healthy but if you got COVID there was a significant risk of hospitalization and death,” said Dr. Ohm Deshpande, vice president of population health for Yale New Haven Health. “Whereas with the boosters, for some patients it’s a no-brainer but for others it isn’t. Will it protect you a little bit more? Yes. But given who you are, based on your makeup, based on your health, it may not make a huge difference for you.”
Cardon said people under 65 without any significant health issues must weigh the potentially minor benefit of a booster shot against the possibility of unpleasant side effects.
“We’re working under imperfect information to understand the true benefits of the booster, trying to make some assumptions around who is most likely to benefit,” Cardon said. “We know if you’re not vaccinated, that’s a bad decision. After that, it gets to be more nuanced.”
What is demand like? Are appointments available?
Vaccine providers say demand for booster shots has not been nearly as strong as it was during the initial rollout last winter and spring.
According to the Department of Public Health, vaccine providers in Connecticut had administered about 109,949 third doses as of Oct. 13, including about 83,000 since booster shots were approved for several hundred thousand Pfizer-BioNTech recipients in the state in late September. In total, about 3.1% of residents had received a third dose as of Oct. 13.
Though demand is likely to increase when hundreds of thousands more residents become eligible for booster shots in the coming days, officials say most won’t have to wait more than a few days to find an appointment. Cardon said Hartford HealthCare has been filling about half of its vaccine appointments and had about 3,000 open slots as of Tuesday.
“There’s still no taxing of our ability to meet even an enhanced demand,” he said.
Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com.
