[Archived] City of Alexandria Prepares to Administer COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots

For Immediate Release: August 18, 2021

The City of Alexandria is preparing to scale up vaccination efforts in expectation of a recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. Alexandria Health Department (AHD) is coordinating with private providers, working with community partners, and communicating with the general public to ensure that vaccines are safely, efficiently, and equitably available for everyone who wants one. AHD has already begun administering third doses to moderately and severely immunocompromised residents.

 This work follows today’s White House announcement that a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be recommended for individuals ages 18 and older who have received the first two doses of an mRNA vaccine. If the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend booster doses after reviewing the available data, vaccinated adults will be eligible for a booster shot as soon as eight months after they received their second dose. Booster shots may be available as soon as September 20.

An additional dose of vaccine is expected to increase the vaccine’s effectiveness and provide better protection against the delta variant, which is nearly twice as contagious as other variants. Healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities would be among the first people to be eligible for mRNA booster doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. There is no recommendation for an additional dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine at this time. Additional data may be released in the coming weeks.

Booster shots would be available through AHD vaccination clinics, private medical providers and some employers. The capacity of private providers to administer shots has increased greatly since vaccinations started at the end of 2020, so individuals will be able to utilize any available vaccine provider. 

Visit alexandriava.gov/Vaccines for updates about booster shot availability.

For inquiries from the news media only, contact Natalie Talis, Population Health Manager, at natalie.talis@vdh.virginia.gov or 703.746.4914.