Everyone in Santa Clara is qualified to get the extra COVID-19 shot, county officials said.
The announcement was the clarification for the earlier message that might not have appeared clear, ABC7 reported.
“I think what the public heard was ‘I have to be 65 otherwise I can’t get a booster’ and that’s not correct, that’s not correct,” Santa Clara County Health Officer and Director of Public Health Dr. Sara Cody said.
“We know protection fades from original vaccination,” she said.
Booster shots have been administered to a little over 200, 000 people in Santa Clara County but Dr. Cody said more than a million people are qualified to receive the additional dose.
There is only 39 percent of people aged 65 and older and those who fall at higher risk that has received the booster, the COVID-19 vaccine officer of the county, Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, said.
“We urge people who have underlying medical conditions and are over 65, but as Dr. Cody mentioned, everybody is pretty much eligible for a booster,” Dr. Fenstersheib said.
The county has only about 200 providers – covering those who are in the hospitals, clinics, up to its retail pharmacies.
Santa Clara’s health officials recognized that retail pharmacies employees check on the people regarding which criteria they fall before giving the booster, but cleared that county is not being negligent in the administration of the booster as compared to these pharmacies.
“Nobody will be turned away who wants a booster,” the COVID-19 vaccine officer said.
The virus cases in the country stress the necessity of giving the additional dose of the vaccine. According to Dr. Cody, Santa Clara has not yet reached the level where it was prior to the Delta infections. In fact, the recorded numbers are going up.
COVID-19 booster shots could take one to a couple of weeks to be effective, health officials said. Now is the best time to get an additional dose, they said, especially if one has plans to travel or to gather for Thanksgiving.
Also, health officials said side effects of the booster dose may be the same or more that the primary series.
