9.21.2021

Lots of updates here about numerous vaccines:

-We have influenza vaccine now! Our office receives the standard dose, quadvalent (meaning four different strains of flu) vaccine. See the ad in this paper for flu vaccine clinic times and locations. We do plan to transport COVID-19 vaccine to our non-Steele flu vaccine clinic locations. You can receive both the flu vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine at the same time, or have any spacing between them.

-COVID-19 vaccine clinics will continue Fridays through October at the Coffee Cup in Steele from 10am-2pm. They will continue to offer Pfizer, Moderna, and if possible Johnson/Johnson. Our staff will continue the COVID-19 vaccine clinics every Thursday from 3-4pm at the Ambulance Hall in Steele. We offer Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

- If you are a local business owner and would like to offer COVID-19 vaccine or flu vaccine to your employees during business hours, please reach out to us to schedule a date/time.

-BOOSTER doses: We currently can ONLY give an additional dose of Moderna or Pfizer to those with moderate/severe immunocompromising conditions. No booster doses have been authorized yet. VRPAC (an independent vaccine advisory committee) met and recommended the FDA authorize a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine for those 65 years+, those with high-risk conditions, or those with occupations with high exposure risk (health care workers) six months after completing their primary series. They did vote “no” for recommending booster doses to everyone 16+ since data suggests, despite breakthrough cases, the vaccine continues to be effective at preventing hospitalizations and death in the US. As of today, FDA has received the recommendation and will make a decision soon. After that, ACIP (another independent advisory committee) will meet at the end of September to refine those recommendations and review more data. THEN we will have specific guidance on who and when to give booster doses. As you can see, these processes involve many different independent groups, reviewing large amount of data to give the best recommendations. We will continue to update as we know more.

-October 1st is fast approaching! Required vaccines for school need to be completed by that date. If you have a kindergartner, 7th grader, or 11th grader please make sure your child is up to date. You should have received notices from both the state and our office if not. Schedule with your primary care provider ASAP or call us to make an appt – we accept most insurance. Again, we do transport vaccine to the school for the older children if required paperwork is completed ahead of time.

If you have questions on any services or need us for anything – reach out to us at 475-2582. We’d love to hear from you.