FDA expands emergency use of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to include boosters

By LYNETTE SOWELL 

Cove Leader-Press 

On Wednesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended its emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to allow booster dosing for those who are at least six months out from completing the first two doses.

Coryell County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Harrell said on Friday that Coryell Health will be providing boosters for those who are eligible. 

Those interested in receiving a booster according to the timeframe should contact Coryell Health at 254-248-6381. 

H-E-B Pharmacies will also be providing booster shots, with walk-ins for vaccinations from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. All other days and times are by appointment only.  

H-E-B has an online scheduler at https://vaccine.heb.com/scheduler and can be reached at 1-800-811-8620. 

The booster authorization is for those 65 years of age and older, those 18  through 64 years of age at high risk of severe COVID-19; and individuals 18 through 64 years of age who have frequent exposure to COVID-19 that puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19, including severe COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, occupations at increased risk for COVID-19 include front line essential workers and health care workers, such as first responders, education staff to include teachers, support staff, daycare workers; food and agriculture workers; manufacturing workers; corrections workers; U.S. Postal Service workers; public transit workers; and grocery store workers. 

This amendment to the EUA is for the Pfizer vaccine only, not Moderna or the Johnson & Johnson one-dose shot. 

The Pfizer vaccine has been available under EUA for those 16 years of age and older since Dec. 2020 and that authorization was expanded on May 10 of this year to include those 12- through 15-year-olds. Then on Aug. 12, the EUA was expanded again to include a third dose for immunocompromised individuals 12 years of age and older. 

Right now, it’s looking like it will be mid October when the FDA will hear information and render a decision on whether to expand the Pfizer EUA for children ages 5-12. 

According to the FDA, EUAs can be used during public health emergencies to provide access to medical products that may be effective in preventing, diagnosing, or treating a disease, provided that the FDA determines that the known and potential benefits of a product, when used to prevent, diagnose, or treat the disease, outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.

As of Sept. 22, a total of 182,012,343 residents in the United States have received a full vaccination series, with 99,477,041 of them having received the Pfizer vaccine. 

In the state of Texas, 61.16 percent have completed vaccinations against COVID-19, or 14,721,129 of those eligible at this point. 

Locally, in Coryell County that number is 38.86 percent, in Lampasas County 43.93 percent, and in Bell County it is 42.51 percent.