ANN ARBOR – The newly updated bivalent COVID-19 boosters are now available at several locations across Washtenaw County.
The bivalent vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer recently received emergency use authorizations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The shots have been updated to better protect individuals from the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variants, which are currently the dominant variants in the country.
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The bivalent vaccines “contain two messenger RNA (mRNA) components of SARS-CoV-2 virus, one of the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the other one in common between the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2,” reads the FDA’s website.
The Pfizer vaccine is approved as a single booster dose for individuals age 12 and up while the Moderna vaccine is approved as a single booster for individuals age 18 and up.
The Washtenaw County Health Department is currently offering the Pfizer bivalent vaccine. To schedule an appointment, click here. If no appointments are available, the Health Department encourages individuals to continue checking its site, since time slots are regularly updated.
The Health Department said it will post an update on its website when it is able to offer the updated Moderna vaccine.
The Health Department continues to offer the primary COVID-19 vaccine series from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
A number of area pharmacies including Rite Aid, Walgreens, Costco and Ann Arbor Pharmacy are offering either one or both of the bivalent vaccines. To check which locations are offering the updated boosters in your area, visit http://vaccines.gov.
For more information about COVID-19 vaccination, visit the Washtenaw County Health Department’s website.