COVID boosters for adults available at LI pharmacy chains
The CVS at 2 Jericho Tpke. in Huntington Station and other pharmacy chains on Long Island require appointments for COVID-19 booster shots. Credit: Howard Simmons
The medical experts have spoken, opening up the COVID-19 booster shots to every adult. But where to get the jab?
Several major pharmacy chains are offering the booster, including CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid.
Starting Saturday, nearly 10,000 CVS pharmacy locations across the country were offering a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 booster dose to all adults age 18 and older who have completed primary inoculations with any authorized vaccine.
This follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention giving final approval to boosters for all adults on Friday night. The Food and Drug Administration also had approved the shots earlier Friday.
A CDC advisory committee said anyone 18 and older could choose a booster of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and pointed out that people 50 and older should certainly get one.
All three pharmacy chains are asking people to set up appointments and not just walk-in for the booster.
Meanwhile, the virus continues to spread across Long Island. Friday marked the second consecutive day with more than 1,000 new cases on the Island. Nassau had 443 and Suffolk had 602, for a total of 1,045, according to state figures released Saturday.
The Island's seven day average of positive test results also continued to rise, from 3.74% on Wednesday, to 3.84% on Thursday and 3.98% on Friday, the state said.
The positivity rate was about 2% just a few weeks ago.
The state had 23 deaths related to COVID-19, including one in Suffolk.
It remains unclear to what degree the government's expansion of eligibility will increase demand for the booster.
Tara Burke, a CVS spokeswoman, said the company did not release daily rates of vaccination.
Dr. John D’Angelo, senior vice president and executive director of emergency medicine services at Northwell Health, said demand had been light for the booster shots at the health system's mass vaccination sites.
He said demand had slowed after an initial burst when boosters were approved in late October for those 65 and older as well as those with existing medical conditions.
Several factors could be driving this, he said, including the easy access to the shots at drugstores, the desire by some to not get the shots, and the delay in word getting out about the expanded availability of boosters.
The booster is offered at Northwell's vaccination sites in Riverhead, Huntington, Bohemia, Hempstead and New Hyde Park, D’Angelo said.
In addition, Northwell is partnering with the state on a vaccination site at SUNY Old Westbury, he said.
The state also offers booster shots at SUNY Stony Brook.
Northwell also has rolled out the booster shots to 19 primary care practices, D’Angelo said.
Many other urgent care facilities are not distributing the booster, including the CityMD sites.
The Suffolk County COVID-19 vaccination center also offers boosters.
Mount Sinai South Nassau will offer boosters through its Vaxmobile on Monday in Baldwin and Tuesday in Oceanside, said hospital spokesman Joe Calderone.
NYU Langone is offering the booster, including at its pediatric locations, according to spokeswoman Anne Kazel. Boosters are also available on the Mineola campus and various additional physician locations on Long Island, she said.
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Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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