Updated COVID-19 Booster Vaccines Coming Soon
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) announced Sept. 2 that doses of the updated COVID-19 booster vaccine are expected to begin arriving at health care providers next week.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allocated about 900,000 doses of the updated boosters to Texas, including 502,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 192,800 doses of the Moderna vaccine available for order by health care providers. Another approximately 200,000 doses will be available through large retail pharmacies like H-E-B, CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart, according to DSHS.
The announcement comes after the CDC endorsed the updated boosters Sept. 1.
“The updated COVID-19 boosters are formulated to better protect against the most recently circulating COVID-19 variant. They can help restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination and were designed to provide broader protection against newer variants. This recommendation followed a comprehensive scientific evaluation and robust scientific discussion. If you are eligible, there is no bad time to get your COVID-19 booster and I strongly encourage you to receive it,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
The updated “bivalent” vaccines are designed to protect against the original strain of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, which is responsible for more than 99% of the COVID cases in Texas over the past month, DSHS says.
The boosters are a single dose that uses the same mRNA technology as the original Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, and they will be available in many of the same locations, officials say.
The updated Pfizer booster is authorized for people at least 12 years old, and the Moderna booster is for people 18 and older. People can get the updated booster as long as it has been at least two months since they completed any primary COVID-19 vaccine series or gotten a previous booster, health officials say.
Doses of the updated boosters are shipping to clinics, health departments, hospitals, and pharmacies. People can use the vaccine finder at vaccines.gov to locate a provider with doses of the new boosters in stock starting next week.
For more information, visit the DSHS website here and the CDC here.
