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If you're looking for information on COVID-19 booster shots and additional primary doses for people who are immunocompromised, LVHN has the answers to your questions below.
Booster shots
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends booster shots for all individuals ages 5 and older. Additionally, boosters are recommended for children ages 6 months to 4 years who received the Moderna vaccine series.
Individuals who have received their initial vaccine series and are age 5 or older are eligible for a booster dose two months after their last dose.
Children between ages 6 months and 4 years who completed the Moderna primary vaccine series are also eligible for a booster two months after their last dose (although these boosters are not available through LVHN).
Children or adults who were previously infected with COVID-19 may choose to wait up to three months before getting a bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine, but at a minimum, they should be symptom-free and 10 days out from a positive COVID-19 test.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends the bivalent mRNA vaccine boosters made by Pfizer and Moderna. If you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine initially, you should receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine as your booster.
While LVHN mainly offers the Pfizer booster (and you cannot select the brand you wish to receive), retail pharmacies in our community offer the Moderna booster.
Lehigh Valley Physician Group (LVPG) primary care (internal medicine, family medicine and pediatrics) practices are offering initial Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses and booster shots during specific vaccination appointments or as part of yearly physical or sick/problem visits (as long as the patient is not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19).
You can schedule a booster shot with your LVPG practice two ways:
- By calling your LVPG primary care physician’s office
- By logging in to MyLVHN, the network’s patient portal, and selecting the “Schedule Vaccine Appointment” option
Medical conditions that may put someone more at risk include:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- COPD
- Down syndrome
- Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
- Being immunocompromised (having a weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant or blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids or use of other immune weakening medicines
- Obesity (having a body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher but less than 40 kg/m2)
- Severe obesity (having a body mass index equal to or greater than 40 kg/m2)
- Pregnancy
- Sickle cell disease
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus
Being a smoker also can put someone at higher risk.
You may experience mild or moderate reaction symptoms very similar to the side effects experienced after your initial COVID-19 vaccinations. Side effects may include:
- Pain, redness and swelling at the injection site
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Muscle or joint pain
- Chills
- Swollen lymph nodes in the underarm
Similar to other vaccinations at LVPG practices, an administration fee is billed to patients’ insurance policies after they receive their shots.
Third Primary Shots
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends additional primary vaccine doses for individuals ages 5 and older who are moderately or severely immunocompromised. Additionally, the organization recommends that children ages 6 months to 4 years who are moderately or severely immunocompromised and receive the Moderna primary vaccine series receive an additional primary series shot.
Additional Pfizer-BioNTech primary vaccine doses are available at all LVPG primary care (family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics) practices for all individuals ages 5 and older.
At this time, LVHN is not offering additional primary Moderna doses. If you or your child needs to receive an additional Moderna dose, we recommend making an appointment with a retail pharmacy in our community.
You can schedule an additional primary shot with your LVPG practice two ways:
- By calling your LVPG primary care physician’s office
- By logging in to MyLVHN, the network’s patient portal, and selecting the “Schedule Vaccine Appointment” option
According to the CDC, some people with moderately to severely compromised immune systems do not always build the same level of immunity after vaccination against COVID-19, compared to people who are not immunocompromised.
You may be immunocompromised if you:
- Are actively receiving cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood
- Have received an organ transplant and are taking medicine to suppress your immune system
- Have received a stem cell transplant within the last two years or are taking medicine to suppress your immune system
- Have moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge syndrome or Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
- Have advanced or untreated HIV infection
- Are undergoing active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that may suppress your immune response
A full list of conditions and circumstances that may make you immunocompromised is available on the CDC website, cdc.gov.
While LVHN will not require proof of an immunocompromising condition or COVID antibody levels, patients will be asked if they have one of the immunocompromising conditions defined by the CDC. If the patient doesn’t have one of the listed immunocompromising conditions, they can attest that their care team agrees they are immunocompromised for other reasons and would benefit from an additional dose.
The FDA recommends immunocompromised patients wait at least four weeks from the second shot of their primary vaccine series to receive their third shot.
It is recommended that the third dose be from the same manufacturer as the previous doses, when feasible. At this time, LVHN is mainly offering Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, and individuals are not able to choose which brand they wish to receive.
If you would like to receive an additional dose of the Moderna vaccine, we recommend making an appointment with a retail pharmacy in our community.
Studies on an additional primary dose of the COVID-19 shot show it is safe and that mild or moderate reaction symptoms were consistent with earlier doses. No patients developed critical side effects that required hospitalization.
Immunocompromised patients who get a third shot are encouraged to continue taking physical precautions to help prevent COVID-19 infection.
Similar to other vaccinations at LVPG practices, an administration fee is billed to patients’ insurance policies after they receive their shots.
Yes. All individuals (except children ages 6 months to 4 years who received the Pfizer-BioNTech primary vaccine series) who received a primary vaccine series (including those who received an additional primary dose) should get a booster two months after their last dose.
