Or on the advice of your doctor. That’s the key word: listen to your doctor. I just got my Moderna booster at Walgreens on the advice of my kidney doctor. I filled in a form listing my conditions, gave them my doctor’s contact info and vaccination card, and was admitted, got my jab, and sailed right out. If you can get your booster now, don’t wait. I got my second dose in April, so it’s only been four months for me.
I have a debatable underlying condition, so I thought I’d take a chance and see if they wanted to give me a booster. If they didn’t, no harm no foul.
CVS did with no questions asked. I was in and out of there. I felt bad that maybe I jumped the gun a bit, but then the FDA gave full approval to Pfizer and now I’m glad that I got my booster out of the way. There might well be another run on vaccines, just like back in March and April, and I don’t want to be calling all over the place trying to find an appointment. I could see into the cold case where the vaccine vials were kept, and it looked like they had a large supply.
I think it’s CVS’s goal just to get shots into arms and not to get too fancy about restrictions. While I was waiting after my booster, a frightened-looking young pregnant woman came in and was awaiting her shot. The pharmacist asked if this was her second one and she that it was her first. He didn’t quiz her or waste any time getting that shot into her arm. I gave her a thumbs-up to encourage her.
Yeah, there was a pregnant lady in line ahead of me at Walgreens. I was glad to see that she was getting vaccinated.
Late to the thread but I’ve been vaccinated for several months now. Registered for it as soon as it was available to me.
Fully vaxxed, 2 x doses of AstraZeneca. No reaction after the first jab 3 months ago, but app 4 days after the second shot my arm swelled, was hot and very red and sore. That lasted a full week, but apart from that, all good!
So I’m in a bit of a quandary. Hoping this thread is an appropriate place to bring it up; if not, I can start a new one.
I got the Moderna vaccine in September and October of last year as part of the trial. I wasn’t unblinded until late January, but it turned out I did get the active vaccine, not the placebo. I was very happy. Earlier this summer, when it looked like anyone with the vaccine was golden, I scheduled/had rescheduled a number of potentially risky activities for this fall: a concert, an art exhibit, and a play (all indoors); a trip to Hawaii; a bachelorette party weekend and other social engagements. Then Delta came in like a wrecking ball, but I remained optimistic that they’d start testing a booster on us any day now (Pfizer was doing it, and they’ve always been 5 minutes ahead.) But no word came down from the study. I asked, and they said it’s still being discussed. Then the official recommendation for boosters came down, for people 8 months out, and here I am almost a year out, and still nothing from the study folks.
I know the most right thing to do here would be to cancel everything and hunker down again. But uh, hypothetically, if I didn’t do that, would it be better to go get that booster on my own, even if it required dropping out of the study? Or should I continue to wait?
Another wrinkle is that I’m having a hard time with California’s online vaccine verification system. I feel like it might be because they don’t recognize my vaccine card from the study, but I can’t get a human to talk to me. If I were to pop down to CVS, I could get the J&J, be out in 5 minutes, probably get my online verification squared away, and possibly enjoy broader protection than I would with a third dose of Moderna, given the different ways the vaccines work.
But then again, I’m young, healthy, in all the lower-risk groups, able to work from home if infected or get paid leave if seriously ill, with good insurance…if anyone can take one for the team in the name of science…
The CDC doesn’t recommend mixing vaccines. Since your first two shots were of Moderna, it’s recommended your booster be the same as the first two. Walgreens has the Moderna, and walk-ins are welcome. Even if you’re not immunocompromized, it may be worth inquiring about.
Other countries are recommending mixing and matching, though. The CDC is very conservative in terms of not recommending anything that hasn’t explicitly been studied. Canada and the UK both gambled that these vaccines would work like every other vaccine, and it would be okay to wait longer for dose two, and the data supports that they were right.
@Esprise_Me , can you ask your doctor?
I’m surprised you don’t have a contact within the study. Is it over?
The study is ongoing; I fill out a brief eDiary every week and talk to someone on the phone every month. I also have an in-person visit in October, at which it’s still possible they’ll give me a booster, although the appointment was made long before there was any talk of boosters. The appointment is after the bachelorette and art exhibit, but before the concert (and the wedding.)
I didn’t realize the CDC was explicitly recommending against mixing and matching for the booster. I’d heard some preliminary theorizing that it might actually be better. I’ll read up on it some more.
It’s not so much that the CDC says, “don’t mix” as that it says, “do get the same vaccine if you can”.
Has getting a booster if you are not immunocompromised gotten emergency use authorization yet?
I’ve seen multiple people talk about popping down to a pharmacy to get a booster, but as far as I know, it still involves lying. Maybe it wouldn’t come up with J&J, because you might not be asked if it was your first shot. But I don’t think it’s supposed to be available to people generally yet.
ETA: The position on mixing seems dumb, but I guess it makes a certain amount of sense to say that you should get what’s been studied. Particularly when talking about the initial vaccination, because that’s what’s established as creating the known level of immune response. I’d like to see numbers on getting different shots for boosters. I got Pfizer, so by 8 months my protection will be waning. I’d like to know if it would be better to get a Moderna or J&J booster – and if so, I hope it will be available.
Lying how? The “rules” for qualifying for a third vaccine are a bit hazy. Take this:
Patients being treated for solid tumors with chemotherapy — and some patients on immunotherapy — currently or within the last six months
People who are moderately to severely immunocompromised are eligible for a third dose of the vaccine.
I’m currently taking twenty milligrams of prednisone a day for Polymyalgia Rheumatica, an immune mediated disease. The purpose of the prednisone is to suppress my immune system, although the dose is relatively low. One doctor I know told me I definitely qualify, while another disagreed.
When I go to get my third dose, I’ll be required to attest to being immunocompromised. I feel like I can honestly do that.
Canada and UK did AZ (or Jannsen) followed by mRNA, but I don’t know of any studies that do it the other way around. It looks like the NIH is currently doing a study with different mixes, but those data won’t be out for a while.
Looks like Japan is mixing vaccines to speed up their vaccination program
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-eyes-mixed-use-covid-19-shots-speed-vaccine-rollout-2021-08-29/
I was speaking specifically about people who are not immunocompromised, as mentioned in the first sentence of my post. Sorry if that was not clear.
Ahh, ok. But how do you know the people who are getting their third aren’t immunocompromised? Indeed, I’m not certain I’m “moderately to severely immunocompromised” because the modifiers are not defined.
This is what the CDC says qualifies:
Been receiving active cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood
Received an organ transplant and are taking medicine to suppress the immune system
Received a stem cell transplant within the last 2 years or are taking medicine to suppress the immune system
Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
Advanced or untreated HIV infection
Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that may suppress your immune response
People should talk to their healthcare provider about their medical condition, and whether getting an additional dose is appropriate for them.
ETA: I’ve seen an article about people who don’t qualify lying to get third shots. I’ve seen people mention it in contexts where it’s pretty clear. If someone says they got a third shot, without more info, I assume they were qualified.
But the definition of “high dose corticosteroids” is open to interpretation. Does my 20 mg a day for the past month qualify?
Online in a few minutes I see:
While the definition of high-dose corticosteroids depends on the indication, it is typically defined as greater than 15–20 mg for greater than 2–4 weeks.
High dose is defined as a prescription of >5 mg oral prednisolone and long term as duration of treatment >1 month (based on National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance for patient’s ’at risk’ of systemic side effects).
Prednisone is the oral tablet form of steroid most often used. Less than 7.5 mg per day is generally considered a low dose; up to 40 mg daily is a moderate dose; and more than 40-mg daily is a high dose.
Yeah, I think I’ll go get my third. I’ll attest to being on high-dose corticosteroids.
Again, I have no interest in nitpicking anyone’s claim to being immunocompromised. That’s not what I was talking about at all.
I am immunocompromized (type 2 diabetes and kidney disease). In addition to mentioning my conditions on the consent form, I had to put down my primary care doctor’s info, presumably so that they could confirm my conditions with him.
I just got an update from the Moderna trial folks. Long story short, they are planning to start testing boosters (which will be different from just another regular dose of the vaccine). They’re still working out the details, but they’re hoping to get shots in arms starting late September. This is after my trip to Hawaii,* but before all the other stuff I mentioned. So that settles it for me; I’m staying in the study and won’t be dipping out to CVS for a J&J fix.
*That trip is actually probably the safest thing I’m doing-- I’ve got real N95 masks for the airport/flight/any other indoor spaces, I’m staying in a condo, and I’m planning to spend as much of the trip breathing from a scuba tank, or at least outdoors, as possible! I feel a little bad about it in light of the governor’s request, but not bad enough to cancel.