DPH will offer third doses of COVID vaccine for immunocompromised individuals

The Department of Public Health has announced that it will begin offering third doses of the COVID vaccine for individuals with immunocompromised conditions.

According to District 2 Public Health’s Public Information Officer Natasha Young, based on guidance District 2 Public Health has received, they will begin working with its health departments to administer the additional dose to immunocompromised individuals.

The additional dose has been approved for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines only and is not approved for the Johnson and Johnson one-dose vaccine.

Young says this is an additional dose for individuals who have specific health conditions that limit their ability to make antibodies to fight off COVID-19 with only two doses of the vaccine, this is not a booster dose for the general population.

To receive the additional dose per the Georgia Department of Public Health guidelines, health departments will require a signed doctor’s statement that includes the specific health condition a person is experiencing.

To obtain the forms needed for documentation from your doctor, visit phdistrict2.org.

The additional vaccine dose should be considered for people with moderate to severe immune compromise due to a medical condition, or receipt of immunosuppressive medications or treatments.

This includes people who have: active treatment for solid tumor or hematologic malignancies; receipt of a solid-organ transplant and taking immunosuppressive therapy; receipt of CAR-T-cell or hematopoietic stem cell transplant (withing 2 years of transplantation or taking immunosuppression therapy); moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome); advanced or untreated HIV infection; or active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids, alkylating agents, antimetabolites, transplant-related immunosuppressive drugs, cancer chemotherapeutic agents classified as severely immunosuppressive, tumor-necrosis blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory.

Young says District 2 Health Departments, including Stephens County Health Department, will administer additional doses on a walk-in basis.

At this time, no appointments will be required, and all additional doses will be available at all District 2 Health Departments.

Stephens County Health Department’s hours of operation are Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:00 a.m. until 5 p.m., Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Every day the health department is closed for lunch from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.