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New Omicron Booster Available Monday at Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department

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This August 2022 photo provided by Pfizer shows vials of the company's updated COVID-19 vaccine during production in Kalamazoo, Mich. U.S. regulators have authorized updated COVID-19 boosters, the first to directly target today's most common omicron strain. The move on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2022, by the Food and Drug Administration tweaks the recipe of shots made by Pfizer and rival Moderna that already have saved millions of lives. (Pfizer via AP)

WHEELING – Starting Monday, the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department will offer the new omicron COVID-19 booster vaccination, according to a WOCHD release.

Currently, only the Pfizer-BioNTech omicron booster is available. The Pfizer-BioNTech booster is authorized for use in people age 12 and older as a single booster dose administered at least two months after either completion of primary vaccination with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine, or receipt of the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.

As a reminder, the original COVID-19 boosters for ages 12 years and older are no longer available. However, those original mRNA vaccines remain authorized and recommended for use as the primary series.

On Sept. 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' (ACIP) recommendations for use of the COVID-19 omicron updated boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for people ages 12 and older and from Moderna for people ages 18 and older.

Updated COVID-19 boosters add Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 spike protein components to the original COVID-19 vaccine composition. This helps the immune system restore protection that may have waned since previous vaccination by targeting variants that are prevalent and highly transmissible in our communities at this time.

The new omicron boosters are for those ages 12 years and older who have completed the primary series with any authorized/approved COVID-19 vaccine, and their most recent original COVID-19 vaccine of any kind was at least two months ago.

COVID-19 vaccines and boosters are available at the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department, located at 1500 Chapline Street, Wheeling, WV (City/County Building), Monday through Friday from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. No appointments are necessary and walk-in clients are accepted. The COVID-19 vaccines are free of charge. For more information, call (304) 234-3682.

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