Dr. Eddie Stenehjem, Intermountain Healthcare infectious diseases physician, provides COVID-19 community update on October 22, 2021 (Photo: Intermountain Healthcare)
SALT LAKE CITY — The recommendation from Intermountain Healthcare is to repeat the past. In other words, people should get a COVID-19 vaccine booster that is the same type as their original vaccine series. The health network held a briefing Friday to explain their stance on mixing and matching after new CDC guidance was released Thursday.
Doctors with Intermountain Healthcare suggest people get the same booster as their original vaccine series.
“If you had a Pfizer vaccine series and you are able to get a Pfizer booster, go ahead and do that,” said Infectious Disease Physician Dr. Eddie Stenehjem. “Same thing with Moderna, same thing with J&J.”
However, the doctor understands that might not always be the most convenient approach. He said that’s perfectly alright.
“And those people that can’t find a booster to match their primary series, then it’s ok to go ahead and mix and match. We’re absolutely ok with that,” Stenehjem says.
It is entirely up to the person getting the booster and their primary care physician to decide whether to get a different shot. But Dr. Stenehjem has a little more to say about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“We suspect that J&J will be a two-shot vaccine regimen, just like Pfizer and Moderna . … we really want people that had J&J initially, that are 18 years of age or older, to get that shot two months after their second shot,” he said.
Per CDC guidance, people 65 and older are eligible for a booster shot six months after receiving their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna. Also eligible are adults 18 and older with underlying medical conditions or those who work in jobs where COVID-19 transmission might be higher.