Butler Health System to administer second COVID booster
Butler Health System will begin offering an additional booster shot for COVID-19 Friday, as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On March 29, the Food and Drug Administration authorized a second booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine for certain individuals based on their risks for severe illness.
People who received the Pfizer, Moderna or some combination of the two for their primary vaccine series are eligible to receive a second booster shot four months or longer after their first booster shot if they are 50 or older or are immunocompromised.
“We will offer the additional booster as outlined by the CDC,” said Karen Allen, chief nursing officer at Butler Health System. “We have vaccine clinics posted on the Butler Health System website and all of the information related to the new approval.”
Butler Health System operates its vaccine clinic on Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Crossroads Campus at 127 Oneida Valley Road in Butler. While initially planned to have reduced hours beginning April 15, the vaccine clinic will continue its 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours through the month.
Allen said March 16 that BHS has a committee that meets weekly to discuss plans for the vaccine clinic and the Butler Memorial Hospital COVID testing site.
“We're monitoring demand to see how many hours to open,” Allen said.
Immunocompromised individuals should now receive a total of five doses of the mRNA vaccine — three for the primary series, followed by two boosters. People who received the J&J vaccine should receive a second booster with an mRNA vaccine, regardless of age or immune status, four months or longer after their first booster, according to the CDC.
Appointments for vaccines at BHS’s clinic can be made at butlerhealthsystem.org.
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