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South Florida pharmacies began receiving the new COVID-19 reminders this week and are accepting appointments for injections.
Pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens, Publix and Walmart will update the bivalent recall they distributed in the past with a dose of vaccine formulated to attack the newly circulating COVID strain. Anyone older than 6 months is eligible to receive the new injections.
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Federal health officials say the updated COVID vaccine could help improve people’s waning immunity as the country nears the fall season to breathe viruses. Last fall, the recall provided 80% coverage for emergency room visits and emergency care for children. “Even if you’re not worried about serious illness, the vaccine reduces the severity and duration of symptoms,” says Katelyn Jetelina, a public fitness expert and member of the widely read Your Local Epidemiologist.
On Wednesday, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo spoke out against injections for people under 65, attacked federal public health officials for lack of protective data, allegedly used poor clinical wisdom and Americans as “guinea pigs” for newly approved coronavirus vaccines.
His recommendation contrasts with that of the country’s top fitness advisers, many of whom have spoken out to criticize Ladapo’s recommendation. On Thursday, Dr. Anand Parekh, lead medical adviser to the Bipartisan Policy Center, noted that several clinical agencies and trained researchers conclude that the benefits of boosters outweigh the risks. “The recommendation is that all Americans over the age of six months benefit, but in terms of impact, it’s probably more important for high-risk groups, such as the elderly and Americans who are in close proximity to those high-risk teams,” he said.
Florida has the highest COVID hospitalization rate in the country and cases in the state are rising. Here’s what to do when boosters arrive at your pharmacies:
CVS says it will offer updated Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, depending on store location. CVS. com and the CVS Pharmacy app will be updated to reflect CVS Pharmacy’s active vaccination sites. All CVS pharmacies sites are expected to have the vaccine in stock early next week. Pediatric doses of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for ages 5 to 11 can be obtained at select CVS pharmacies. Parents and guardians consult CVS. com or CVS pharmacy app to locate nearby locations with available appointments.
MinuteClinic sites will also begin providing the new COVID-19 vaccine to patients 18 months and older in the coming weeks. Pediatric doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for children 18 months to four years and older will be received at maximum MinuteClinic sites.
Walgreens will offer the updated Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Appointments can be booked immediately and appointments will be held starting Monday nationwide. Previous appointments can be added; Lately, stocks are on their way to pharmacies across the country. Pharmacists would likely administer the updated vaccine to eligible Americans 3 years of age or older. To schedule a COVID-19 vaccine at Walgreens, stop by Walgreens. com/ScheduleVaccine. use the Walgreens app or call 1-800-WALGREENS. The online planner offers the option to schedule appointments for up to 4 more people on a single stopover.
Publix: Publix will bring the vaccine starting at age 12 and accepts appointments in Publix. com/vaccines.
Other providers: You can search through zip code on vacunas. gov
At home: If you have difficulty getting around and can’t get to a vaccination site, you may want to get vaccinated at home; Call 1-888-677-1199 for more information.
Almost everyone gets a reminder, U. S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said.
“You may have been vaccinated several months ago, or you may have been vaccinated with one of the previous vaccines, and that’s very smart because it provides a certain point of protection, but if you need the highest level of protection, you need to get it. “”up-to-date vaccine,” Becerra said at an AARP meeting at the City Council on Thursday.
Becerra said anyone who hasn’t received a vaccine in the past two months and anyone who contracted COVID more than 3 months ago deserves to get the booster, even if they don’t fall into a high-risk category. “We need to spend the holidays being able to hug and hug our loved ones without affecting them,” she said.
Healthcare professional Jetelina recommends an age-based waiting time: people over 65 or at risk of severe disease are vaccinated 4 months after infection or a previous vaccine. Don’t wait more than six months.
If you’re younger than 65 and not at high risk, wait at least 6 months after infection or a previous vaccine, he says. Ideally, get vaccinated as soon as the winter wave starts (getting it before Halloween is a smart bet).
The federal government is no longer the vaccine provider, but insurance, along with Medicare and Medicaid, covers the cost. This is not the case for the more than 23 million uninsured adults in the United States.
“For those who are uninsured, we have implemented a transition program that allows others to get vaccinated for free, either at their community pharmacy, at a federally licensed gym, or at a state or local fitness department,” Becerra said.
As part of the Bridge Access Program, CDC has contracted with CVS and Walgreens pharmacies to allow them to continue providing free COVID-19 vaccines to the uninsured. An online page has been created for others to find beneficiaries participating in this program. If you stop at a pharmacy that does not participate in the Bridge Access program, you may be charged a fee, so be sure to ask ahead of time.
State fitness departments will continue to offer vaccines at no cost to eligible children, adding those without insurance, through the federal vaccines program for formative years.
“There are other people who enjoy the side effects, again, the side effects are very different than dying from not having received a vaccine,” Becerra said. “The recommendation is to make sure you contact your doctor first. He or she will know what cases you bring to the table.
Because of the side effects, other people may need to wait for the Novavax booster, which uses a different platform than mRNA. Jetelina says high-risk people shouldn’t wait for this option if it’s been more than six months since their last vaccine or infection. Novavax’s recall is still under review by the FDA.
You can get either at the same time, said Parekh, lead medical adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “A lot of other people did it last year and it was convenient. It’s perfectly fine and you can do it if you have to,” he said. saying.
Experts propose vaccination in other arms. Some also claim that receiving the COVID reminder on the same arm as the previous reminders will strengthen their immunity.
If you need to get a flu and COVID shot at other times, you don’t have to wait in between, Parekh said.
He recommends getting the RSV vaccine and a COVID booster at the same time, saying fewer studies have been done on this vaccine combination.
Jetelina says that if it only had a full set of Moderna, it could gain marginal advantages by taking Pfizer off the market (and vice versa). But the science is combined and not solid. She advises opting for the most readily available brand.
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The main goal of those vaccines is to prevent serious illness and death, and the booster deserves to be effective until spring, Parekh said. “In terms of saving symptomatic infections, we’ll probably have coverage for a few months,” he said. In terms of taking a little longer to avoid hospitalizations, as well as serious illness and death, you can expect to be protected throughout the season. “
People older than 65 or those with weakened immune systems may need a second dose after four months, he said. “Talk to your doctor about whether this is necessary,” he advised.
The new variant, BA. 2. 86, dubbed Pirola, is a new mutated omron subline.
“We’re seeing cases of BA. 286 around the world, but it hasn’t increased,” Parekh said. “The research suggests that the new vaccine produces effective antibodies against this new variant. This will protect against serious illness, and our existing tests and remedies work too, so there’s no cause for alarm.
No, you don’t need to come back. And, in fact, older booster doses may not be available as new vaccines are rolled out, experts say.
“As far as the COVID vaccine goes, it’s exactly the same situation where we have an annual flu vaccine,” Parekh explained. “Every year we don’t conduct new clinical trials of flu vaccines. What we’re doing is what strains are circulating around the world and how to make a vaccine that covers those strains. That’s what we’re doing in the face of the flu, and that’s precisely what we’re doing in the face of COVID. The safety studies are the same. The only thing the adjustments are the specific strains they target. “
This will be a matter of judgment for parents, however, Jetelina provides these facts to consider:
More than a portion of youth hospitalized with COVID-19 have some comorbidity or other disease or condition.
Behind older adults age 7 and older, infants younger than 6 months had the highest rate of hospitalization for COVID-19. The burden of serious disease is lower in children aged five to 17 years compared to other age groups.
For youth, hospitalization rates were lower or comparable to those for influenza. However, once hospitalized, more children sought comprehensive care for COVID-19 than for the flu.
Youth hospitalization rate for COVID-19 higher than other vaccine-preventable diseases
The prevalence of COVID is among young adults.
Cindy Goodman is the reporter for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. You can reach her on cgoodman@sunsentinel. com or on Twitter at @cindykgoodman.
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