OCHD COVID-19 CLINICS PROVIDING ADDITIONAL DOSE FOR MODERATELY OR SEVERELY IMMUNOCOMPROMISED INDIVIDUALS

OCHD Also Announces Additional COVID-19 Testing Clinics at OCC

(Toms River) – The Ocean County Health Department is providing an additional COVID-19 vaccine for individuals with moderately to severely compromised immune systems at all OCHD vaccine clinic locations. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised receive an additional dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine at least 28 days after a second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. This includes people who have:

• Active treatment for solid tumor and hematologic malignancies,
• Receipt of a solid-organ transplant and taking immunosuppressive therapy,
• Receipt of CAR-T-cell or hematopoietic stem cell transplant(within 2 years of transplantation or taking immunosuppression therapy),
• Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency(such as Di George syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome),
• Advanced or untreated HIV infection, and/or
• Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids (~20mgprednisoneor equivalent per day), alkylating agents, antimetabolites, transplant-related immunosuppressive drugs, cancer chemotherapeutic agents classified as severely immunosuppressive, tumor-necrosis(TNF) blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory.

People should talk to their healthcare provider about their medical condition, and whether getting an additional dose is appropriate for them.

For those who received the one-dose J&J vaccine, the CDC advises that there is not enough data at this time to determine whether people with a compromised immune system will also have an improved antibody response following an additional dose of the same vaccine. It also does NOT recommend additional doses or booster shots for any other population at this moment in time.

Proof of an individuals’ immunocompromised status is not required to make an appointment. The OCHD is recommending people bring their current COVID-19 vaccination record card identifying which 2-dose vaccine was administered prior and the dates. For more information regarding the additional dose, residents can visit:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/immuno.html

The OCHD holds vaccination clinics at Ocean County College from 9am to 3pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  For a full list of COVID-19 clinics coming to a neighborhood near you, visit www.ochd.org.

COVID-19 DRIVE THRU TESTING:

The OCHD is also providing residents with an additional testing clinic site at Ocean County Community College. Beginning on August 18, 2021, the COVID-19 drive-thru testing site at Ocean County College will be open every Wednesday and Friday from 9am-12pm. The Ocean County College drive-thru clinic is located at 1 College Drive Lot #3, Toms River. Please note that this clinic will only offer PCR testing at this time. No rapid tests will be administered. To register for a COVID-19 test please visit www.ochd.org.

Have a COVID-19 or vaccine-related question? Contact the OCHD Information Line at 732-380-5079.  You can also follow the Ocean County Health Department on Twitter@OCpublichealth or like us on Facebook. Download the Ocean County Health Department mobile app free from the Google Play/Android and Apple APP stores.