Health authorities including White House Covid-19 coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, are recommending everyone who is eligible get a bivalent Covid booster shot by Oct. 31. Shots take about two weeks to reach maximum effectiveness, and the idea is to get protected before an expected surge as people spend more time indoors.
This past week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized the booster dose for children 5–11 years old. CDC recommends that children five years and older receive one bivalent booster if it has been at least two months since their most recent Covid-19 vaccines.
CDC states the updated shots enhance immunity by targeting both the original virus strain and the currently dominant omicron variants. But finding the boosters can be a challenge. Walmart in Berryville was out of the bivalent boosters as of Oct. 17. The earliest appointments at Economy Drug, Berryville, were out into the second week of November. Eureka Springs Hospital hasn’t yet scheduled another Covid shot clinic.
ESH spokeswoman Samantha Jones said at the most recent clinic Oct. 6, about 70 people got the Pfizer bivalent booster. At least one local resident who went to the clinic declined the Pfizer shot because she had read that the Moderna booster elicits a better immune response and may be more effective at preventing breakthrough cases. Both boosters are effective according to the CDC.
Two residents who took the Moderna bivalent booster recently said they only had a sore arm, and not other side effects like fatigue, chills and joint aches from earlier Covid booster shots.
Jones said it isn’t hard to find the Pfizer shot, but Moderna has been hard to get.
“We have lots of people who have called and asked for Moderna, but we can only get our hands on Pfizer at this moment,” Jones said. “I understand that mixing vaccines is a personal decision, and some have chosen to wait until Moderna is available.”
The Moderna and Pfizer boosters are available at the Carroll County Local Health Unit in Berryville from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the week except for between 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Some people, either those without transportation or who are working days during the busiest tourism month of the year, said they are waiting for the local hospital shot clinic.
ADH spokesperson Danyelle McNeill said bivalent vaccines are available in all local health units (LHU) in the state.
“Although Moderna had been in short supply, we are now caught up on all orders, so LHUs have both Pfizer and Moderna,” McNeill said. “If private clinics don’t have vaccine available, they are able to request a supply. If local hospitals and clinics have been Covid vaccine providers, they should also be able to obtain the newest bivalent booster. LHUs have late hours until 6 p.m. on Tuesdays to give people time after hours to come in.”
The number of cases of Covid in Eureka Springs, Carroll County, Arkansas, and most of the country has been declining. In September, ESH saw 30 positive tests out of 180 total tests, a positivity rate of 16.67 percent. Many people are using home tests, which are not reported to health authorities.
In late September and early October, the Arkansas Department of Health reported two more Covid deaths in Carroll County bringing the total to 117. ADH doesn’t indicate when the deaths occurred. It can take weeks or months before deaths from Covid are officially added to county and state totals.
As of Oct. 17, ADH estimated Carroll County with 32 active cases of Covid and Arkansas with 3,140 active cases compared to 3,351 cases a week earlier.
The FDA has recommended the booster because the virus that causes Covid-19 changes over time.
“The bivalent Covid-19 vaccines include a component of the original virus strain to provide broad protection against Covid-19 and a component of the omicron variant to provide better protection against Covid-19 caused by the omicron variant,” the FDA wrote in a press release. “A bivalent Covid-19 vaccine may also be referred to as ‘updated’ Covid-19 vaccine booster dose. Covid-19 vaccines can help protect against severe illness, hospitalization and death from Covid-19. As the virus changes and your immunity naturally decreases over time, you may lose some of that protection.”
Americans are not rushing to get the bivalent vaccine with only about four percent of those eligible getting the booster by Oct. 8.
The study indicated that at least one dose of Covid vaccine could reduce, if not eliminate, risks of long Covid.