New booster shots designed specifically to protect against the most common form of COVID-19 will soon be available in Hawai‘i.
The new boosters are the first vaccines designed specifically to protect against the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants as well as original COVID-19. The Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending the bivalent boosters for people 12 and older.
According to the most recent Variant Report published by the DOH State Laboratories Division, BA.5 is the dominant strain in Hawai‘i accounting for at least 91% of the COVID-19 cases. BA.4 accounts for an additional 4% of the COVID-19 cases in Hawai‘i.
The bivalent booster manufactured Pfizer-BioNTech is recommended for use in people age 12 and older. The bivalent booster by Moderna is recommended for adults 18 and older.
The new bivalent boosters are to be administered as a single booster dose to those who previously completed a primary series of COVID-19 vaccines and those who have had one or two booster doses. Bivalent boosters can only be administered if it has been at least two months since a person’s most recent vaccination.
“The COVID-19 boosters we have been using do a good job of protecting us against severe illness. The new bivalent boosters are an upgrade because they take into account mutations of the COVID-19 virus to specifically address Omicron subvariants,” said State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char, FACEP.
The bivalent boosters replace the monovalent boosters made by Pfizer and Moderna for people 12 and older. People 12 and older who have already scheduled booster shots with monovalent doses of either Pfizer or Moderna are asked to contact their vaccination providers and reschedule. Monovalent boosters by Pfizer are still recommended for children ages 5 through 11.
The new bivalent booster doses will arrive in Hawai‘i in the coming days.
Scheduling of booster appointments will be done by individual vaccine providers once they receive delivery of bivalent boosters. Find information about providers and the services they offer by visiting the vaccine finder map at HawaiiCOVID19.com/vaccine.
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