Booster COVID-19 Vaccines Available for All Brands

PROVIDENCE, RI —  Booster doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine have been available since Sept. 24, and now Moderna’s and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines against the virus are also available as booster shots, the RI Department of Health reports.

Notably, the J&J vacccine booster is available to anyone 18 or older who has previously received the single-dose regimen, two months after the first dose.  The CDC has also approved a mix and match approach for people who wish to get a booster shot of another COVID-19 vaccine.

In a press release, Johnson & Johnson announced earlier this month that, “the largest real-world evidence study for a COVID-19 vaccine reported to date in the U.S. demonstrated stable vaccine effectiveness of 79 percent (CI, 77%-80%) for COVID-19-related infections and 81 percent (CI, 79%-84%) for COVID-19-related hospitalizations.”

The study included 390,000 people who received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine versus approximately 1.52 million unvaccinated people matched on age, sex, time, three-digit zip code, and comorbidities (people with coinciding ailments) and predictors for COVID-19 infection severity conducted from March to late July 2021.

Gov. Dan McKee and RIDOH announced Friday that Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine boosters are   available and recommended as follows:

Moderna

A single booster dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine may be administered at six months or more after the completion of the primary series to:

• Anyone age 65 or older;
• Anyone age 18 or older who lives in a long-term care setting;
• Anyone age 18 or older who has an underlying medical condition; and
• Anyone age 18 or older who lives or works in high-risk settings.

Johnson & Johnson (Janssen)

A single booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine may be administered two months or more after completion of the single-dose primary regimen to:

• Anyone age 18 or older.

Booster doses of Pfizer vaccine have been available since September. Eligibility for a booster dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is as follows:

A single booster dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine may be administered at least six months after the completion of the primary series to:

• Anyone age 65 or older;
• Anyone age 18 or older who lives in a long-term care setting;
• Anyone age 18 or older who has an underlying medical condition; and
• Anyone age 18 or older who lives or works in high-risk settings.

There are now recommendations for booster doses for all three available COVID-19 vaccines in the United States. Eligible individuals may choose which type (manufacturer) of vaccine they receive as a booster dose. Some people may want to get the same vaccine type that they originally got. Others may choose to get a different type of vaccine for their booster. CDC’s recommendations now allow this “mix and match” for booster shots. (All doses in the primary vaccination series must still be the same type of vaccine.)

Eligible Rhode Islanders can now make appointments for all three types of booster doses by visiting VaccinateRI.org or calling 844-930-1779. You can also learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and where to find appointments at C19VaccineRI.org.We expect small changes in the online systems for registration in the coming days to reflect new eligibility and thank Rhode Islanders in advance for their patience. Individuals will be asked to self-attest that they are eligible to receive booster doses.

RIDOH continues to work directly with nursing homes, assisted living communities, and other congregate care settings to ensure access to booster doses.