COLUMBUS – The Ohio Department of Health has released its guidelines for administering COVID-19 vaccine boosters.
Millions more Americans are now eligible for COVID-19 boosters, and they can get a different vaccine than their first shots.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if you started with Pfizer or Moderna and are older than 65 or otherwise at higher risk of infection, you can get a booster after six months.
Anyone age 18 or older who started with Johnson & Johnson, you can get a booster after two months, no matter your age.
Ohioans who are currently eligible include those age 65 and older or 18 and older who live in long-term care settings, have underlying medical conditions, such as cancer, heart conditions, obesity and pregnancy; and those who work or live in high-risk settings, including healthcare workers, firefighters, police officers, teachers and daycare workers and grocery store workers.
See the full list of eligibility guidelines here
Kids may be vaccinated by Christmas
Pfizer shots could begin early next month for children between 5 and 11 years of age if regulators give the go-ahead.
“Families that seek their first shot by mid-November, those children will be considered fully vaccinated by the winter holidays,” said Dr. Larry Kociolek, an infectious disease specialist at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Illinois.
Pfizer announced Friday that kid-size doses of its COVID-19 vaccine are safe and nearly 91% effective at preventing symptomatic infections in elementary school children.
If the Food and Drug Administration authorizes the low-dose shots, the CDC will make the final recommendations on who should receive them.
“So, as soon as we have both the FDA authorization and the CDC recommendation, there will be vaccine out there so children can start rolling up their sleeves,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.
Currently, 64% of eligible Ohioans have received at least one dose of an approved vaccine.