NEW HAVEN, Conn — Yale New Haven Health System announced Friday that it will start offering booster shots and third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at select sites across the state.
In a statement, hospital officials said they will administer booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine for people who are 65 years and older, to people who are 18 to 64 and are at high risk of severe COVID-19 and to healthcare workers.
Those who are eligible can receive the booster six months after the completion of a second Pfizer dose, the hospital said.
People who received the Johnson & Johnson or Moderna vaccines are not eligible for the booster.
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Additionally, a third dose will be offered to patients who are immunocompromised and received either Pfizer or Moderna. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a third dose for people who are immunocompromised. More information on eligibility can be found here.
Yale New Haven explains the difference between a third dose and a booster here.
Dose three and booster shots will be available by appointment only at:
- YNHHS Site, 200 Orchard St, New Haven, CT
- Bridgeport Hospital Primary Care Center Building, 226 Mill Hill Ave., Bridgeport, CT
- Northeast Medical Group (NEMG) Office, 4a Devine Street, North Haven, CT
- NEMG Office, 1152 Kings Hwy Cutoff, Fairfield, CT
- NEMG Office, 194 Howard Street, New London, CT
All vaccinations are by appointment only. They can be made now at the YNHHS website.
On Thursday, the CDC endorsed booster shots for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans, opening a major new phase in the U.S. vaccination drive against COVID-19.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on a series of recommendations from a panel of advisers late Thursday.
The advisers said boosters should be offered to people 65 and older, nursing home residents and those ages 50 to 64 who have risky underlying health problems. The extra dose would be given once they are at least six months past their last Pfizer shot.
However, Walensky decided to make one recommendation that the panel had rejected.
The panel on Thursday voted against saying that people can get a booster if they are ages 18 to 64 years and are healthcare workers or have another job that puts them at increased risk of being exposed to the virus.
But Walensky disagreed and put that recommendation back in, noting that such a move aligns with an FDA booster authorization decision earlier this week. The category she included covers people who live in institutional settings that increase their risk of exposure, such as prisons or homeless shelters, as well as health care workers.
Experts say getting the unvaccinated their first shots remains the top priority, and the panel wrestled with whether the booster debate was distracting from that goal.
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