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NOTE: The following information was published Jan. 26, 2022. For current information, please visit LVHN.org/vaccines.
With recent COVID-19 booster guidance updates from the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who received a third dose (an additional primary dose) of their mRNA vaccine can schedule to have a COVID-19 booster five months after their last shot.
When should someone who is immunocompromised receive a COVID-19 booster?
People who are immunocompromised and have received both doses of either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines AND have also received a third primary vaccine dose 28 days (or longer) after completing the vaccine series are eligible to receive a booster shot five months after the third shot.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the booster dose is intended to help enhance or restore protection against COVID-19 which may have decreased over time.
Individuals who received a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine should receive a booster (preferably Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) two months after the initial one-shot J&J vaccination. They should only receive an additional dose of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine if they are unable to receive an mRNA vaccine booster (for example, patients with allergies to a component of the mRNA vaccines).
Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) is accepting appointment requests for fourth dose booster shots for people who meet these criteria.
Vaccination remains the most important way to reduce spread of COVID-19, and booster shots help boost waning immunity, according to the FDA.
