Lexington health department will offer 3rd dose of vaccine to immunocompromised
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department will begin offering third doses of COVID-19 vaccines to immunocompromised people on Monday, according to department officials.
Starting August 23, people with compromised immune systems who have received two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines more than a month ago can schedule a same-day appointment to receive a booster dose. Appointments will be available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the department’s clinic at 650 Newtown Pike by calling 859-288-2483. For people who are immunocompromised, the third dose can be received at least four weeks after receiving your second dose.
Following a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, Kentucky Public Health Commissioner Steven Stack announced this week that residents in long-term care facilities and those who are immunocompromised would have immediate access to a booster shot. Booster vaccinations of nursing home residents have already begun, Stack said.
President Joe Biden said this week that all U.S. adults who received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine will qualify for a booster shot beginning in September. Adults who aren’t immunocompromised will become eligible for a booster eight months after their initial doses. Stack urged Kentuckians who don’t yet qualify for a booster dose to refrain from getting one.
“Please do not go and seek your third dose yet,” he said Thursday. “You’re not eligible.”
Those who are immunocompromised and in long-term care facilities take priority because they are at a much greater risk of severe COVID-19 infection, especially as the more transmissible Delta variant continues to grip the state and country.
Those who currently qualify for a dose at the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department and any location where vaccines are administered includes anyone who has:
- Been receiving active cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood.
- Received an organ transplant and is taking immune-suppressant medicine.
- Received a stem cell transplant within the last two years or is taking related medicine to suppress their immune system.
- Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency, such as DiGeorge syndrome or Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.
- Advanced or untreated HIV infection.
- Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or another immune-suppressant drug.
More information about the third dose can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/immuno.html.
The health department also continues to take appointments for people wishing to receive their first or second vaccine dose of the Moderna, Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Adults are eligible for all three, and children ages 12 and older qualify for Pfizer.
