Vaccine Update

There have been changes in recommendations to vaccine guidelines in the past few days.

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech booster for ages 12 – 15.
• The FDA moved the booster interval from 6 months to 5 months for ages 12 and over.
• Finally, the FDA authorized a third primary series dose for immunocompromised children ages 5 – 11.

It can be pretty confusing. For instance,

• If you are 12 – 15 and received Pfizer-BioNtech for the primary series, then you can receive a booster of Pfizer-BioNTech 5 months after completing the primary series
• If you are 18+ and received Pfizer-BioNtech for the primary series, then you can receive a booster of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson 5 months after completing the primary series
• If you are 18+ and received Moderna for the primary series, then you can receive a booster of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson 6 months after completing the primary series
• If you are 18+ and received Johnson & Johnson for the primary series, then you can receive a booster of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson 2 months after completing the primary series

Use the charts below to discern whether you and your children are vaccinated to the extent necessary. Please call the COVID Hotline at 802-440-8844 with your questions.

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Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are highly preferred over Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is recommended only situations when there is a contraindication to Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. 

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Trey Dobson, MD, is chief medical officer at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, VT, and an emergency medicine physician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health in Lebanon, NH.