Doctors Start Giving COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - As COVID-19 cases continue to surge, doctors hope booster shots will protect vulnerable populations.
Doctors started giving out Pfizer's booster shots Monday. The provider KDKA's Royce Jones spoke with has administered between 8,000 to 10,000 COVID vaccines to date and has been offering predominately Pfizer vaccines at its clinics.
Medical Director of Central Outreach Dr. Stacy Lane says the response to the CDC's new Pfizer booster shot eligibility hasn't necessarily been overwhelming because many people are content with their first and second doses. But people have been inquiring for months.
She administered several Pfizer boosters Monday and currently has 10 people on the schedule to receive one since the CDC recommendations changed.
Central Outreach has already been getting Pfizer boosters into the arms of many patients who are HIV positive since the immunocompromised were authorized to receive one.
Dr. Lane says people have had "very little adverse reactions" to the Pfizer shot.
"With any vaccine you get, you can feel a little out of it of sorts or feel a little blah for a day or two because that's your immune system waking up," said Dr. Lane. "That's what's supposed to happen. In fact, the more blah you feel, probably the more robust immune response you're having so that means the vaccine is doing its job."
Dr. Lane suggests one reason not too many people are flocking there for Pfizer boosters could be because they don't know that they're eligible.