By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
Adult booster and youth COVID-19 vaccines are approved and available for free in Oxford.
Adults ages 18 and older are able to get boosters at least six months after their second Pfizer or Moderna dose, or two months after a Johnson & Johnson dose. So long as a full dose (two Pfizer/Moderna or one Johnson & Johnson) has been received, adults can receive either of three boosters.
“It works exactly like the initial vaccination,” Tim Davidson, pharmacist at HomeTown Pharmacy, said. “You introduce a foreign body to [your] body and it produces a reaction to it; it develops antibodies. It actually is in all cases — Pfizer, Johnson or Moderna — the same vaccine we use for the initial series.”
The Moderna booster is a half-dose while the other two are the same dosage.
Vaccines are administered in a similar fashion to the initial series. Patients schedule an appointment ahead of time . Sign in involves answering some questions about the patient’s condition, filling out some paperwork and showing an insurance card if available (vaccines are free-of-charge to individuals, though insurance providers pay an administration fee.) Patients can speak with the pharmacists before receiving a vaccine. Once a vaccine is administered, patients are held for 15 minutes in case of allergic reactions.
COVID-19 vaccines and flu shots can be received at the same visit, though Davidson says patients tend to put some time between shots.
“Many have elected to wait a couple weeks in between should they have a reaction to one product or the other, to be able to better understand what the issue was,” Davidson said. “We have had numerous patients opt to do both at the same time.”
A lower dose of the adult Pfizer vaccine is approved for children ages 5 through 11. The dosage is 10 micrograms instead of the regular dosage of 30 micrograms.
Vaccines are available at HomeTown Pharmacy, Rite Aid, Meijer and other pharmacies and medical centers in Oxford. The Oakland County Health Division is hosting a clinic at Oxford Middle School on Friday, Nov. 19 from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Register for the OMS clinic at oakgov.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0prhBc6XV6rclCK?ext=oak.