NYC to Offer Moderna, Johnson & Johnson Boosters

NEW YORK
Mayor Bill de Blasio holds a media availability City Hall on Monday. (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city intends to make booster shots available for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, pending federal approval.

“We’re getting ready in anticipation of that,” de Blasio said at his press conference on Monday. “One of the things we’re focusing on is making sure in the days ahead that all of our vaccination sites are ready, that our people are ready, that our supplies are ready and that New Yorkers are informed.”

Currently, booster shots are available to Pfizer recipients who are six months after the second dose. More than 168,000 eligible New Yorkers have received a Pfizer booster. More than two-thirds of New Yorkers ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated.

Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi committed to booster shots being available in the coming days, “once the FDA authorization for those two vaccine types advances, which we expect to be in the coming days,” said Chokshi.

The FDA and CDC both gave tentative approval to booster shots for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson last week, though the federal government has not yet granted formal approval.

The push to get people their booster shot will be focused firstly on “our seniors, those who are 65 years and older, as well as younger adults with underlying health conditions that put them at highest risk for severe outcomes,” Chokshi continued.

He estimated that Moderna recipients would be eligible six months after their dose, and Johnson & Johnson recipients would be eligible two months after their single shot.

The FDA has suggested someone could receive a booster from a different brand than the one they were initially vaccinated with, but Chokshi said that as of now the city would not be mixing and matching vaccines.

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smarcus@hamodia.com

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