Safeway pharmacist Ashley McGee fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 booster vaccination at a vaccination booster shot clinic on October 01, 2021 in San Rafael, California.
Omicron-specific Covid booster shots are finally here — and possibly available at a vaccine site near you.
The new shots from Pfizer and Moderna are bivalent, meaning that they target both the original Covid strain and omicron's BA.5 subvariant. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease and Control Prevention approved Pfizer's updated booster for people ages 12 and older, and Moderna's updated shot for people ages 18 and older.
To be eligible, you'll need to have completed your primary vaccination series — and be at least two months out from your last dose of any Covid vaccine, according to the CDC. The agency's advisors also say that if you've recently had Covid, you should consider waiting three months after testing negative before getting your updated booster.
The new shots are free of charge to receive, for now. Here's where you can get them if you're eligible:
- Walgreens is offering both Pfizer and Moderna's new boosters. The shots haven't reached all of the chain's locations yet, but new appointments are being added daily. You can view and schedule appointments on the Walgreens website, on the pharmacy's app or by calling 1-800-WALGREENS.
- CVS is also offering both updated boosters. Its online system allows you to schedule multiple patients at once, which could make it easier for your family to get vaccinated together. You can schedule those appointments on the CVS website or on the pharmacy's app.
- Rite Aid, which also owns Pacific Northwest chain Bartell Drugs, began offering both Pfizer and Moderna's new boosters last week at some of its store locations. You can schedule an appointment on the Rite Aid website or the Bartell Drugs website.
- Albertsons, one of North America's largest grocery chains, started offering Pfizer and Moderna's updated boosters at some of its locations on Monday — along with a coupon for 10% off your next grocery purchase if you get the shot. The company's brands offering the boosters include Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, Amigos and Market Street. You can view and schedule appointments on the Albertsons website or app.
- Multiple states — including Massachusetts, New Jersey and Colorado — have websites to help you find other clinics with new boosters in stock. Check your state's health department website to see if it's offering similar resources.
- Vaccines.gov has a search filter for the "newly authorized bivalent" booster options, which you can use to find other locations near you. The website says that if you can't find a convenient location, you should check back later or contact your local health department or health care provider.
Walgreens' online scheduling tool makes it clear that a location is offering the "updated booster." Other pharmacies and clinics, including CVS, don't necessarily specify — but any booster shot you receive now will be the new one, according to recent FDA guidance.
That's because when the FDA authorized the new boosters, it also changed its authorization for the original "monovalent" vaccines that have been used since December 2020. Those original shots can't be used as booster doses for people 12 and over anymore, though they're still the only primary vaccine options for unvaccinated people.
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More than 200 million people are eligible for the new shots, a CDC official said earlier this month. The Biden administration secured 171 million doses of the new boosters, including 105 million from Pfizer and 66 million from Moderna, ahead of the boosters' approvals — an indicator that the country's supply of free doses will likely meet demand from the general public.
If you can't find an appointment now, don't worry: The doses are still being shipped out to vaccine sites across the country. Appointment availability will likely ramp up in the coming days and weeks.
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Update: This story has been updated to reflect updated booster availability at Rite Aid, Albertsons and Vaccines.gov.
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