New COVID Boosters Could Be Available In King County By Next Weekend

KING COUNTY, WA — Newly formulated COVID-19 booster shots designed to target multiple variants of the virus could be available in King County as soon as next week, according to public health officials.

The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization Wednesday for Pfizer and Moderna's first updated booster shots. As the Associated Press reports, the new boosters are "bivalent" shots, protecting both against the original virus and the more contagious and common BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants by making slight changes to the spike protein.

Following Wednesday's FDA approval, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel was scheduled to share recommendations Thursday, followed by a review from Western states. The final guidance will include what age groups will be eligible for the new boosters. Pending final approvals, Public Health - Seattle & King County said new shipments could begin after Labor Day and begin to be available as soon as next weekend.

"The very earliest we could expect to have the new booster doses available at our vaccination sites at the Auburn Outlet Collection Mall would be the weekend of September 9th," officials wrote Wednesday. "However, delays in shipping are possible, so it could be later. Vaccination providers will also need time to update their processes according to new CDC guidance for the booster, so vaccination sites may vary in when they are able to start offering the new booster."

The reformulated Pfizer booster is designed for people 12 and older, while Moderna's is for people 18 and up. However, the final determination on what groups will be eligible right away will depend on the final determination by the CDC panel.

Earlier guidance recommended second boosters for at-risk populations, including people over 65 and others with other health concerns. However, as The Seattle Times reports, the updated omicron boosters may be recommended more broadly. According to the Associated Press, the federal government ordered more than 170 million doses of the updated vaccines, and Pfizer expects to ship the first 15 million by the end of next week.

Once the guidance is final and the first deliveries arrive, several health care providers will be ready to start administering the new boosters, including Kaiser Permanente, UW Medicine, HealthPoint, SeaMar, Snoqualmie Valley Hospital, and ICHS, according to Public Health. Residents can check for updates on where to find the new boosters online.

>> Learn more about the new COVID-19 booster shots on the Public Health Insider blog.