Infectious disease specialist touts benefits
One of Knoxville’s top infectious disease specialists has some simple advice: No matter what your COVID-19 vaccination status, get the updated booster shot.
It could protect you from severe illness and the unknowns of long COVID-19.
The first omicron-specific COVID-19 booster shots are now available at Walgreens, CVS and other local pharmacies. It’s recommended to call or check online to confirm booster availability and if an appointment is needed.
Knox County Health department expects to have the Moderna and Pfizer boosters available as early as next week. Appointments are available by calling 865-215-5555.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending boosters from Pfizer for ages 12 years and older, and Moderna for people ages 18 years and older.
These newly approved shots are bivalent, meaning they target the omicron variant and the original COVID-19 strain. You must have had the initial vaccination series to get the booster.
Vaccines.gov is also an easy source to find vaccines available near you.
Covenant Health infectious disease specialist Dr. John S. Adams talked to Knox News about the boosters and who should get them. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Who should get the updated COVID booster?
The current recommendation from the CDC — and that’s been backed up by other organizations as well — is anybody over age 18 really should get updated. The new (booster) has the original coronavirus and the omicron-specific strains and, beyond that, omicron types that are geared to the subtypes of omicron that are currently circulating.
And certainly, persons who are immunocompromised and (those) undergoing cancer chemotherapy, or are on very high doses of steroids for various conditions, or the very elderly, definitely need to get boosted.
Should older kids still get the COVID booster?
(For ages 12 to 17) you’re still recommended to get a booster, an updated booster if you got Pfizer as a primary vaccine and you’ve not gotten the new booster, then you should get the new booster.
Even if you got Moderna to start off with, you’re going to get Pfizer now. If you got Pfizer to begin with, you’re still going to get Pfizer.
Should people who’ve already had a booster get the updated booster, too?
As long as you’ve finished your primary series, or if you qualified for a booster at least two months ago, you are good to go at any time to get the updated booster. If it’s been less than two months, you should wait until it’s been two months. You still qualify, you just have to wait.
What’s your advice for those who received the initial doses but haven’t been boosted?
It’s never too late. If you never finished your primary series, got the first shot and you didn’t get the second shot, get that second shot. You don’t have to restart the primary series. You can finish it at any time.
Ideally, you’d want to wait one to two months after getting the first one before you get the second one in the series, but if it’s six…
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