The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) announced new Covid-19 vaccine recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC has authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as a single booster dose in individuals 12 through 15 years of age.
Previously, the booster dose of the vaccine was authorized for adolescents 16 years of age and older. The CDC also approved a third primary series dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The third dose can be administered at least 28 days following the two-dose regimen in individuals 5 through 11 years of age who are determined to be moderately to severely immunocompromised.
The updates came after an ongoing review of the available safety and efficacy data by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Any known or potential benefits of additional doses were determined to outweigh any potential vaccine risks.
The CDC also lowered the authorized dosing interval of a booster dose to at least five months after completing a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna primary series. The booster dose after the Johnson and Johnson vaccine remains at two months. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccines are only authorized for adults 18 years of age and older.
During a press conference last week, ADHP health officer Dr. Scott Harris expressed concern for Alabamans and the sudden rise in omicron variant cases. The Covid-19 positivity rate in Alabama is almost 39%. That means nearly four in 10 tests came back positive.
“It will infect everyone in the state at some point, or most of them,” Harris stated. “So, we really need people to do the single most important thing they can do to protect themselves, which is to be fully vaccinated and boosted when it’s appropriate to do that.”
Alabama currently has one of the nation’s lowest vaccination rates. According to the CDC, less than 48% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated.
Studies show that protection decreases over time after getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and may also be decreased due to changes in circulating variants.
