New boosters aimed at protecting against omicron arrive in Fresno area, amid high demand
New coronavirus booster vaccines against both the original COVID-19 virus and its more recent, highly contagious omicron variants have started arriving at pharmacies and medical providers in Fresno County.
The availability of the new doses, which are only authorized as boosters for people who are already fully vaccinated against COVID-19, comes only a week after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration granted drug makers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna emergency use authorization for the vaccines.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the California Department of Public Health also signed off on the boosters, clearing the way for doses to be shipped to county health agencies, medical clinics, physicians offices and pharmacies and be jabbed into patients’ arms.
The vaccine is known as a bivalent medication because it is intended to guard against two different forms of the coronavirus.
“Fresno County has the updated booster vaccines in stock,” said Joe Prado, assistant director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health. “The public should contact the clinic/pharmacy/medical provider they are interested in attending to ensure their updated booster vaccines have been received.”
Pharmacies in the area reported that they were experiencing high demand for the new doses – a stark contrast to what has been languishing demand for the previous versions of the COVID-19 vaccines in recent months.
That aligns with the hope expressed last week by Dr. Kenny Banh, who leads the UCSF-Fresno COVID-19 Equity Project clinic, that the bivalent vaccine would revive interest and demand for people to get the updated boosters at a time when children are returning to classrooms across Fresno County and the Valley.
“I think people will be excited, including myself, because of the high rates of protection” that the new boosters can provide, Banh said. “I’m super ready. I’ve got kids over 12 years old in school, where almost nobody’s wearing masks anymore in those settings.”
The FDA’s emergency authorizations allow for people ages 12 and older to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech product as a single-dose booster, while Moderna’s new formulation is for a single dose booster for people ages 18 and up. Both are available to people who received their most recent booster doses at least two months ago.
