Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam signed an order this week, to ensure that vaccine providers are prepared to start COVID-19 booster shots as soon as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issues the necessary federal guidance.
“Pennsylvania is well prepared to start providing vaccine booster shots just as soon as the CDC provides the approval and guidelines on who can get it,” Beam said during a news conference at the Hershey Pharmacy. “Vaccine providers — especially pharmacies — have already done a tremendous job administering more than 12 million vaccines across the state. Now they are ready to get booster shots to people as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is scheduled to discuss boosters on Sept. 22 and 23 and is expected to make recommendations and provide guidance to vaccine providers following the meeting.
The Department of Health’s order requires vaccine providers, as possible, to:
Last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced that, since January 2021, 97 percent of COVID-19-related deaths and 95 percent of reported hospitalizations due to COVID-19 were in unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated people.
To find a vaccine provider near you, visit vaccines.gov.
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