CDC/KDHE Expand Pfizer Booster Availability; Authorize Third Shots for Kids 5-11

(Sedgwick County, Kan.) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Kansas Department of Health & Environment (KDHE) have endorsed three FDA authorizations expanding COVID-19 vaccine access.

These changes—

• Reduce the waiting period to receive a booster from six months to five months after the second shot of Pfizer vaccine.
• Lower the minimum age to receive a Pfizer booster: now anyone age 12 or older is eligible to receive a Pfizer booster if they completed the two-dose Pfizer primary series five months ago.
• Authorize a third dose in the Pfizer primary series for 5- to 11-year-olds who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.

Sedgwick County Health Department (SCHD) is now following the new recommendations.

“Expanded access to vaccines is good news all around,” says Adrienne Byrne, Sedgwick County Health Director. “Studies clearly show boosters help stop the spread of the Omicron variant. It’s urgent that everyone stay up-to-date with a booster as soon as they are eligible—that’s now five months, not six.”

She added, “A third dose for our most vulnerable young people ensures that children with weakened immune systems are optimally protected against COVID-19.”

SCHD offers Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccines at its Community Vaccine Clinic at 223 S. Main (former downtown Wichita library) and at Mobile Vaccination Clinics around Sedgwick County. No appointments are necessary. Parent/guardian consent is needed to receive COVID-19 vaccine for people less than 18 years old. An attestation form is signed to receive a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine if a person is moderately or severely immunocompromised.

Additional information from CDC here:

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0104-Pfizer-Booster.html

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0105-Booster-Shot.html

Additional information from KDHE here:
https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/15901/1621-HAN-CDC-KDHE-Updates-Booster-and-Additional-Dose-Eligibility

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