The local campaign to get Pfizer booster shots into the arms of as many eligible people as possible has gotten off to a quick start.
Just over 2,440 Bartholomew County residents received a COVID-19 booster shot in the first three weeks since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them certain people six months after their second doses.
So far, the number of booster shots given to Bartholomew County residents has peaked Tuesday and Thursday of last week, the first two days that Columbus Regional Health’s standalone vaccine clinic reopened at 1702 Keller Ave.
A total of 327 booster shots were administered to Bartholomew County residents on Oct. 5, the first day the clinic was open. On Oct. 7, another 358 local residents got their booster shots.
Overall, 1,295 booster shots have been given out since the standalone clinic has reopened, though not all of those shots were administered at CRH’s clinic. Boosters are also being offered via the Bartholomew County Health Department and elsewhere.
However, the CRH clinic, which is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., was closed this week due to fall break.
The updated figures come as a panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration endorsed booster shots for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, The Associated Press reported.
On Thursday, the panel voted unanimously to recommend a booster shot for some American who received Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago, according to wire reports.
More specifically, the panel recommended the shots for seniors and younger adults with other health problems, jobs or living situations that put them at increased risk from COVID-19, according to wire reports.
On Friday, the advisory panel endorsed booster doses of the J&J vaccine but without setting a firm time frame for when they should be administered.
The recommendations are non-binding but are a key step toward expanding the U.S. booster campaign to millions more Americans.
The FDA will use its advisers’ recommendations in making final decisions for boosters from both companies, according to wire reports. Assuming a positive decision, there’s still another hurdle — next week, a panel convened by the CDC will offer more specifics on who should get one.
A total of 2,369 Bartholomew County residents have received the J&J vaccine so far, according to the Indiana State Department of Health. It is not clear how many local residents have gotten the Moderna shot, as public vaccine records do not distinguish between the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
The government says all three U.S. vaccines continue to offer strong protection against hospitalization and death from COVID-19, and that the priority is getting first shots to the unvaccinated, according to wire reports. But there’s a growing push to shore up protection against “breakthrough” infections and the extra-contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.
