The Food and Drug Administration has approved the giving of a third dose of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for those eligible Americans.

“We are happy to see the FDA and the CDC grant third dose availability for those residents that qualify,” said Audrain County Health Department (ACHD) Administrator and CEO Craig Brace. “The Audrain County Health Department will open third-dose clinics offering the Moderna vaccine only starting on Monday, Nov. 8.”

ACHD will only be offering the Moderna vaccine at this time and will not be offering the Pfizer or J&J vaccine.

“That decision was made based on the knowledge that there are multiple places in Audrain County where the Pfizer vaccine is available already,” Brace said. “This includes places like Webber Pharmacy, Jackson Street Drug, Walgreens and Walmart pharmacies.”

On Thursday, the advisory committee on vaccine practices (ACIP) voted unanimously to recommend authorization of the third dose of Moderna and J&J. The FDA approved the recommendation on Friday, as did the CDC.  

The committee voted 15-0 to recommend the Moderna booster dose for adults 18 plus at least six months after the second dose of the primary series in the same risk groups as recommended for the Pfizer booster. The dose is recommended for those in the same risk groups for whom CDC recommended a booster of Pfizer-BioNTech, under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization.

 Those qualifying include:

• Residents that are 65 years of age and older.
• Those residents aged 50 to 64 with underlying medical conditions.
•  18 years of age and older and living in a long-term care facility.
• Residents with medical conditions aged 18 to 49 years of age.
• And, employees and residents are at an increased risk for COVID-19 exposure such as first-responders and front-line health care workers. See the full list of occupations considered at risk for exposure to COVID-19 at myachd.org

  The committee also voted 15-0 to recommend the Johnson & Johnson booster dose for all adults 18 and older who received the J&J primary series at least two months after the initial dose, following the same guidelines as those eligible for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine. ACHD will offer a mix and match Moderna vaccine for those who received Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.

 Audrain County residents can begin signing up for a third dose Moderna shot by visiting the ACHD website, myachd.org and clicking the appointments tab on the site’s main page.