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Pharmacists prepared for booster shots

The federal government says it will start giving out booster shots next month. And third doses for people with certain health conditions have already begun.

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — Ed Gaughan and Stu Brown both agree: As soon as they're eligible for a booster shot of the COVID vaccine, they'll be first in line.

"Because I want to live longer than I am right now!" said Brown.

President Biden announced Wednesday the government plans to begin the booster roll-out by the end of September.

The CDC recommends people get it 8 months after their second shot, as new data shows protection from the vaccine decreases over time.

Allyson Favuzza, owner of Hometown Health Care in Covington Township, is happy to have the heads-up this time. 

"So now I have a month. Back on January 19, when the governor went on the news and said, 'everybody 65 and up can get the COVID vaccine,' we had zero heads up, absolutely none."

The third round of shots has already started for people who are immunocompromised to give them another layer of protection. 

Favuzza and her employees have been calling customers with certain health conditions to let them know they qualify.

She says there's a lot of confusion right now about who should be rolling up their sleeve for a third time. 

"Some people have been kind of upset with us when they call, and they want to schedule their third dose or their booster, and they don't understand that they're not eligible yet. 'Well, I'm 95.' Yes, I understand, but right now, the guidance from the FDA is that a third dose is only approved for a specific population," said Favuzza. 

"There's definitely some hesitation. I had a lady on Saturday wondering if her condition made her immunocompromised. It didn't, actually, so there's definitely something to be said for checking with your doctor to see if you truly are at risk before getting that third shot," said Bethany Gerdy, a pharmacist at The Medicine Shoppe in Bloomsburg. 

There, customers have been calling and coming into the store all week long to ask about the third shot.

"We definitely have some very eager people who want it," said Gerdy. "I mean, you have people who still don't want it, and then you have people who are ready to get stuck three, four more times."

Both pharmacists we talked to say it's too soon to tell if it'll be recommended to get booster shots every year, but it's certainly a possibility depending on what the virus does.

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