Vaccination sites in New York City are set to offer a third shot of the COVID-19 vaccine to city residents who immunocompromised systems.
The New York State Department of Health authorized the third COVID-19 vaccine dose for eligible New Yorkers on Monday.
The move comes in response to a similar recommendation last week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Delta variant accounts for 90 percent of all positive coronavirus test results in New York City, which is now considered a “high transmission” area according to the CDC. The Delta variant is also now the dominant strain of COVID-19 throughout the United States.
Effective immediately, New Yorkers who meet criteria can receive the third dose 28 days after the completion of their two-dose vaccine series.
The city-run sites will use the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for the third “booster” dose, which will be provided to residents at vaccination sites offering both walk-in and ‘by appointment’ inoculations.
Health officials recommended the third shot be the same brand as that with which New Yorkers were inoculated the first and second times.
The third dose should not be administered within four weeks of having received the second dose.
According to ABC’s Channel 7 Eyewitness News, one does not need to present documentation of a compromising health condition to receive the third dose: simply stating that one has such a condition is enough.
In addition, one does not need to go to the same place where the previous inoculations were received.
People with the following conditions and/or are undergoing treatment are being advised to speak with their doctor about a third dose of the vaccine, which in Israel has been reported to fade after about five months.
- Recipient of organ transplant, taking immunosuppressive therapy
- Recipient of stem cell transplant in past two years
- Suffer from advanced or untreated HIV
- Affected by moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency
- Engaged in active treatment for cancer, or
- Engaged in active treatment with a high dose of corticosteroids or other medications that moderately or severely weaken the immune system
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