Updates on the Reformulated COVID-19 Boosters

Updated 9/2/22

• On 9/1, the CDC endorsed the Food and Drug Administration's emergency use authorizations for two reformulated COVID-19 booster shots, one from Moderna (for over age 18) and another from Pfizer/BioNTech (for over age 12).
• The Kansas Department of Health & Environment (KDHE) must still approve the new boosters.
• The FDA no longer authorizes the use of the existing booster formulations in individuals ages 12 and over.
• KDHE has indicated a plan to make the reformulated booster available statewide no earlier than the week of September 12th.
• Final determinations regarding eligibility for new boosters will be made by KDHE.
• Monitor the Sedgwick County website and www.vaccines.gov for additional information and availability
• About the new boosters:
  • Eligible individuals must have completed a primary COVID-19 vaccine series to get them. The vaccines used in the primary series are not changing.
  • According to the FDA, people who received a primary vaccine dose or a booster dose should wait two months before getting the new booster.
  • The new boosters are “bi-valent”: they target both the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 as well as two versions of the Omicron variant – BA.4 and BA.5.
  • Recent data from the Kansas Department of Health & Environment (KDHE) show the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants to be the cause of nearly all new COVID-19 infections in the state.