The new boosters are formulated to better protect against COVID-19 variants
Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas is now offering updated COVID-19 booster, Pfizer-BioNT
The BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the omicron variant are currently causing most cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and are predicted to circulate this fall and winter.
The updated boosters are available at most CHC/SEK locations at no out-of-pocket cost to the recipients. Vaccinations are available on a walk-in basis, or by appointment at most CHC/SEK locations.
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent
Individuals 12 years of age and older are eligible for a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent if it has been at least two months since they have completed primary vaccination or have received the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.
The bivalent vaccines, which are also referred to as “updated boosters,” contain two messenger RNA (mRNA) components of SARS-CoV-2 virus, one of the original strains of SARS-CoV-2 and the other one in common between the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
“COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters, continue to save lives and prevent the most serious outcomes (hospitalization and death) of COVID-19,” said Linda Bean, D.O., FAAFP Chief Clinical Officer at Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas.
“As we head into the fall and winter season with the potential for greater virus spread in schools and at work, now is the time for everyone who is eligible to consider receiving a booster dose with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccination to provide better protection against currently circulating variants.”
###