Image
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 bivalent booster shots for everyone 6 months and older who has completed the initial vaccine series but has not received a bivalent booster. A second bivalent booster is available to those with the greatest risk for severe COVID infections, which includes adults age 65 and older and people with immunocompromising conditions.
People 6 months or older who have completed the initial vaccine series but have not received a bivalent booster are eligible for a bivalent booster shot. For people 6 years and older, only a single dose of the bivalent vaccine is required to complete the vaccine series.
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).
Adults age 65 and older as well as immunocompromised children and adults 6 years and older are eligible for a second dose of the bivalent booster. However, to receive a second bivalent booster, it must be at least four months since the first bivalent booster was administered.
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).
To schedule a COVID-19 bivalent booster, you can log in to MyLVHN, the patient portal, and select “Schedule Vaccine Appointment,” found under the menu icon. From there, a list of LVPG locations where the vaccine is available will be listed. You also can call your practice and schedule directly, if desired.
If you have a child who needs a COVID-19 booster, you can call your child’s LVPG Pediatrics office directly or send a secure message through your child’s MyLVHN account. (Note: You will need proxy access to your child’s MyLVHN account to do that.)
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.
To schedule a COVID-19 bivalent vaccination, you can log in to MyLVHN, the patient portal, and select “Schedule Vaccine Appointment,” found under the menu icon. From there, a list of LVPG locations where the vaccine is available will be listed. You also can call your practice and schedule directly, if desired.
If your child needs a COVID-19 vaccination or booster, you can call your child’s LVPG Pediatrics office directly or send a secure message through your child’s MyLVHN account. (Note: You will need proxy access to your child’s MyLVHN account to do that.)
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 people (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. Older adults and immunocompromised people age 6 years and older can receive a second bivalent booster shot four months after their first booster was administered.
