Updated COVID-19 Booster Will Be Accessible in Washoe County on Thursday

Washoe County residents will be able to purchase the updated COVID-19 booster beginning Thursday, September 7.

The booster, known as a bivalent vaccination, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week to help protect against the initial strain of COVID-19 as well as other variations. The BA.4 and BA.5 strains are now producing the majority COVID-19 infections and are expected to spread further this winter and autumn.

Those who have already gotten a COVID-19 booster, as well as those who have finished their primary series doses of the COVID-19 vaccination, are eligible as long as certain age criteria are satisfied and the last dose was at least two months ago.

The Washoe County Health District will hold a vaccination event at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on Thursday to provide the bivalent booster. You may make an appointment here (The option for the updated booster might not appear on the website but it will be offered at the event).

The health district also has appointments available beginning Thursday for the updated booster at its Reno clinic, located at 1001 E. 9th St., Building B. To schedule an appointment, call 775-328-2427.

Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 bivalent booster eligibility

Those 12 and older are eligible for the Pfizer bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since the initial vaccination series or two months since the first COVID-19 booster, known as the “monovalent.”

Note: The first approved COVID-19 vaccine, which was introduced in December 2020 and has already been administered to millions of individuals, is classified as a monovalent vaccination since it solely protects against the original strain of SARS-CoV-2. The bivalent COVID-19 vaccination provides protection against the original strain as well as the BA. 4 and BA. 5 omicron variants.

Those between the ages of 5 and 11 can still get the Pfizer monovalent COVID-19 booster.

Those 18 years of age and older are eligible for the Moderna bivalent COVID-19 booster if it has been two months since the initial immunization series or two months since a monovalent COVID-19 booster.

You can get a Pfizer bivalent booster if you were 12-17 years old and had a Moderna monovalent COVID-19 vaccination for your initial series.