COVID: SF Allows Supplemental Dose Of Pfizer Or Moderna For J&J Vaccine Recipients
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) - In what could be a first nationwide, the San Francisco Department of Public Health, while not recommending COVID vaccine boosters, is allowing some people to get them.
"We are accommodating special requests from individuals who have received the Johnson and Johnson viral vector COVID-19 vaccine and, in many cases, have consulted with their doctor who wish to receive a supplemental dose with a mRNA vaccine, such as Pfizer or Moderna," said Dr. Naveena Bobba, deputy director of SFDPH.
The single dose, one and done Johnson and Johnson vaccine is proving to be about 60 percent effective against the Delta variant currently circulating throughout the Bay Area and nation.
"This is better than not having any vaccine at all. The message is still get the first vaccine you can get. If you can get the mRNA vaccine, please go ahead and do so because it seems to offer better protections," Dr. Malathi Srinivasan of Stanford told CBSN Bay Area.
In early April, when vaccine appointments where still scarce, Paul Larsen got a Johnson and Johnson dose. It was the first one he could get an appointment for. He says he's curious and will consult his doctor about a Pfizer or Moderna supplement shot, in part because of the strength of the Delta variant.
"Incredibly adaptable, incredibly resilient and incredibly very, very strong and we've seen the consequences of that and I want to look at it and see how do integrate those same values into my body to give my body that resiliency, that adaptability and that strength to combat it," Larsen said.
To be clear, the Centers for Disease Control isn't calling for booster shots or supplements yet. Though Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases did say at least one group of Americans may well need them.
"Those who are immunocompromised, transplant, cancer chemo therapy, immunosuppressed because of autoimmune therapy and others - giving them an additional shot isn't considered a booster, it's part of what their original regimen should've been."
