EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — It's the first day Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono in East Stroudsburg is offering the second COVID-19 booster shot for certain groups of people.
Dr. Alex Benjamin, the chief infection control officer, says the additional shot is for people aged 50 and older and certain people who have underlying health conditions.
"If you are going to get a Pfizer second booster, it's for anybody over the age of 12 that meets criteria for immunocompromised, and if you've gotten Moderna, it's over the age of 18 you can get a second booster if you are immunocompromised," said Dr. Benjamin.
You can get the second booster if it's been at least four months since you got the first.
Dr. Benjamin says for people who received the Johnson and Johnson shot, it's a little more complicated.
"If you got another, a second J&J dose after the first, you can get an MRNA booster," Dr. Benjamin said. "If you got J&J and then you got MRNA second, then there's no other recommendation for those people."
An MRNA booster is the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Dr. Benjamin believes the focus of this second dose is the people who have underlying health issues.
"It may not matter what the surge is like. For immunocompromised people, any exposure you know is going to be high risk," Dr. Benjamin said. "So those people should continue to get protection, and they may also be people whose immunity may wane more readily than other people's."
To learn more about the second COVID-19 booster or to schedule your shot, click here.
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