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State Health Department: Vaccine Supply Sufficient To Start COVID-19 Boosters Sept. 20 If Approved

Pool photo by Mike Simons / Tulsa World

The Oklahoma State Department of health is preparing to offer booster shots of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines starting Sept. 20, pending approval by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Boosters would come eight months after a person receives their second dose. So, people who completed a series in January would be up first, meaning the state will follow the same rough schedule of giving shots to older and at more at-risk people first.

"We will be prepared to ramp up our operations to get more larger-scale [point of distribution] opportunities. And we learned a lot from the initial rollout. We plan on applying those lessons to this booster rollout," said Deputy State Health Commissioner Keith Reed

Reed said the state has sufficient supply of the vaccines, so people won’t have to wait for a booster.

"Overall, OSDH is optimistic about the opportunity to provide this additional protection to Oklahomans as more-contagious strains of COVID-19 continue to spread across the state," Reed said. "I am calling on those unvaccinated Oklahomans to help us by stepping up and getting their vaccinations now. You're at serious risk of a severe and possibly life-threatening case of COVID-19."

As of Thursday, just under 42% of Oklahoma’s population is fully vaccinated, still among the lowest rates in the U.S.

Immunocompromised individuals are already eligible for a third dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. That includes people who have received organ or stem cell transplants, people with advanced or untreated HIV infection, and cancer patients.

They can find appointments through the state vaccination portal at vaccinate.oklahoma.gov, the federal vaccine finder at vaccines.gov, calling 211 for assistance or contacting their local health department.

People who have lost their vaccination cards can look up the date of their second dose using Oklahoma's immunization records system, osiis.health.ok.gov.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.
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