On Sept. 17, a Food and Drug Administration panel endorsed Pfizer’s booster shot, but only for people who are older than 64 or who are at high risk for severe disease.
In mid-August, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention approved a third vaccination dose for the immunocompromised population, which includes people with cancer and those who have recently undergone an organ or stem cell transplant.
The difference between the two has caused some confusion for Southeast Texans. An area health official explained that a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and a booster shot are practically the same, but they have different purposes.
Third doses are meant for those whose immune systems did not build enough protection with the first two shots. The booster shots are given to healthy people who built enough protection after receiving the first two doses, but that protection is starting to wear off.
“We have so many individuals who are coming in or who are calling and asking about, ‘Well when are the boosters gonna be? We heard about Pfizer boosters, when are y'all gonna do them?,” Judith Smith, director of health services for the Port Arthur Health Department, said. “And so we're just waiting for the green light from the CDC and the department of state health services to actually provide Pfizer boosters.”
The Port Arthur Public Health Department has been administering the third shot for weeks, but the booster shots have not been approved by the FDA.
Related: No, the additional COVID-19 vaccine shot for immunocompromised people is not a ‘booster shot’
The difference between the two has caused confusion for Southeast Texans who are seeking to get the booster but getting told they do not qualify.
Ronnie Moon, a 74-year-old Southeast Texas Vietnam veteran, went to two area pharmacies and a park before finally being able to get his booster shot, he said.
“Just because they say they're giving shots doesn't mean you're gonna get your booster shot,” Moon said.
Moon, who has diabetes and neuropathy, went to a Nederland CVS and Walgreens to get his shot only to be told he did not qualify.
“They informed us that they had just received an email two days before that says that they can only give the booster shots to people that are dying of cancer or leukemia, and there was a list of things on there,” Moon said.
Even though Moon was older than 65 and was at high risk for disease, he did not qualify because the CDC states an individual must either be undergoing treatment for cancer or leukemia or have recently undergone a transplant among other factors.
“We went to another office over there by Doornbos Park in Nederland. They were giving shots,” Moon said.
Moon was told, yet again, that he did not qualify. However, Moon eventually did get his booster shot, and he is grateful that he did.
The FDA and CDC are expected to meet with Pfizer Wednesday, and the hope is that Pfizer’s booster shots will be authorized by Friday, Judith Smith said.
If the Pfizer booster shots are approved, they will most likely be first made available to those 65 and older or those who are immunocompromised.
Smith said the Port Arthur Health Department will be able to start giving these shots out as soon as they are authorized by the FDA.