Bivalent COVID Boosters Are Coming to Wyandotte County

Published on September 09, 2022

The Unified Government Public Health Department Will Offer the New Bivalent COVID Boosters Beginning the Week of September 19, 2022

Summary

• Beginning the week of September 19, 2022, the new bivalent COVID boosters will be available for eligible individuals ages 12 and older at the Unified Government Public Health Department (UGPHD), 619 Ann Ave, Kansas City, KS, 66101.
• The new Pfizer and Moderna boosters are “bivalent,” meaning they protect against both the original virus that causes COVID as well as the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the virus (the variants responsible for most recent COVID cases).
• The bivalent booster is available for people ages 12 and older who have completed the primary vaccination series and received their most recent COVID vaccine or booster at least 2 months ago.
• COVID vaccines and boosters are available at the UGPHD by appointment only. Call 913-573-8815 to make an appointment.
  
  

September 9, 2022 (Kansas City, KS) – Today the Unified Government of Wyandotte County Public Health Department (UGPHD) announced that it will provide the new COVID bivalent boosters by appointment beginning the week of September 19, 2022. Patients can call 913-573-8815 to make an appointment.

This follows Federal Drug Administration (FDA) authorization and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). The new Pfizer and Moderna boosters are “bivalent,” meaning they protect against both the original virus that causes COVID as well as the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the virus.

The CDC, KDHE, and UGPHD recommend that everyone who is eligible get the new bivalent booster to stay up-to-date on their vaccinations to get the best protection against COVID. The Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the virus began increasing in May 2022, and they now account for almost all recent COVID cases in Kansas, Missouri, and the United States. They are predicted to continue circulating this fall and winter. These subvariants are more contagious than previous strains of the virus. While COVID vaccination and the old boosters still protect against serious illness or hospitalization, they offer limited protection against getting mild to moderate COVID illness from the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants. The new bivalent COVID boosters, however, are made specifically to protect against these subvariants, in addition to continued protection against the original strain.

Under the updated Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) from the FDA, the previous “monovalent” boosters (which did not have the same level of protection against Omicron) are  no longer authorized for people ages 12 and older. For this reason, the UGPHD and other COVID vaccine providers have put booster appointments for people ages 12 and older on hold at this time until the new bivalent booster shipments arrive.

Who is eligible:

The bivalent COVID boosters are authorized for people ages 12 and older who have been vaccinated and received their most recent dose at least 2 months ago. This includes:

• Individuals ages 12 and older who completed the primary series of COVID vaccinations at least 2 months ago, and have not yet received a booster; and
• Individuals ages 12 and older who completed the primary series and have received one or more doses of the previous monovalent COVID booster at least 2 months ago.

People ages 18 and older can receive either the Pfizer or the Moderna bivalent booster. People ages 12 to 17 can only receive the Pfizer bivalent booster at this time.

Please note that recommendations for children under age 12 have not changed. Children ages 6 months and older are eligible to receive a primary series of COVID vaccines. Some children ages 5 to 11 are eligible for the original monovalent booster (Pfizer only at this time).

Learn more at wycokck.org/COVID-19.