ROCHESTER — Olmsted County Public Health has scheduled two new clinics to provide residents with access to COVID-19 bivalent vaccine boosters.
The updated vaccines are designed to give people broad protection against COVID-19 and include components of the original virus strain and the Omicron variant.
On Aug. 31, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for bivalent formulations of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for use as a single booster dose at least two months after completing primary or booster vaccination.
Olmsted County Public Health will hold vaccination clinics on from noon to 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Friday, Sept.30, at 2100 Campus Drive SE in Rochester.
Preregistration is not required.
People who recently had a COVID-19 infection can delay vaccination, including the bivalent booster, by three months from symptom onset or positive test.
Pfizer and Moderna bivalent boosters can be administered regardless of what type of primary series or booster you have gotten in the past. The main considerations are:
- People 12 and older can receive the Pfizer bivalent booster.
- People 18 and older can receive the Moderna bivalent booster.
- Timing must be at least two months after your primary series or most recent monovalent booster.
In addition to the public health clinics, Mayo Clinic COVID-19 booster vaccinations for area patients can be scheduled at the 41st Street Center Professional Building in Rochester from 10 .m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays or from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays.
The Mayo Family Clinic in Kasson is also offering vaccinations from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays.
Mayo Clinic patients can use Patient Online Services or call their local primary care appointment office to schedule an appointment.
Olmsted Medical Center also has two Saturday COVID-19 booster clinics at the Rochester northwest clinic at 5067 55th St. NW.
Times for required appointments are 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 24 and Oct. 1. There are no walk-in vaccination appointments.
Appointments can be made by calling 507-292-7300 or scheduling through OMC MyChart.
The vaccine provided at the OMC clinics will be the latest version from Pfizer, offering protection against the newest omicron versions, called BA.4 and BA.5. This updated COVID-19 booster is for patients who have completed the primary series.
