LVMC COVID Vaccination Clinic Temporarily Cancelled

The weekly COVID-19 vaccination clinic at LVMC is temporarily cancelled due to the removal of authorization by the Food and Drug Administration for the current monovalent COVID-19 vaccines as booster doses for anyone age 12 and older.

LVMC will resume its public COVID-19 vaccination clinics when the proposed new bivalent vaccine is available and approved by the appropriate agencies. This is expected to occur by mid-September.

The FDA has currently authorized bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, or updated boosters, that include an mRNA component of the original strain to provide an immune response that is broadly protective against COVID-19 and an mRNA component in common between the omicron variant BA.4 and BA.5 lineages to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant.

The BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the omicron variant are currently causing most cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and are predicted to circulate through the population in the upcoming fall and winter. In June, the agency's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted to include an omicron component in COVID-19 booster vaccines.

The bivalent COVID-19 vaccines are expected to provide increased protection against the currently circulating omicron variant. Individuals who receive a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine may experience side effects commonly reported by individuals who receive authorized or approved monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

When the FDA approved these new bivalent vaccines, they also modified the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to remove the monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines as booster doses for people 12 years of age and older. The current monovalent COVID-19 vaccines are currently only approved for primary series doses but not booster doses.

At this time, the bivalent vaccine is only approved as a booster. Therefore, any adult starting a COVID-19 vaccination schedule will receive the original, monovalent COVID-19 vaccine for their initial two shots.

After FDA authorization, the vaccines will need approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Once that approval is authorized, the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup will review the data and decide whether to approve the new bivalent vaccines use in California.

Once all three approvals are complete, vaccinations may begin immediately.

Individuals 18 years of age and older are eligible for a single booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, if it has been at least two months since they completed primary vaccination or have received the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.

Individuals 12 years of age and older are eligible for a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, if it has been at least two months since they have completed primary vaccination or have received the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.

Appointments to receive vaccines or boosters at LVMC's Vaccination Clinics may be made at myturn.ca.gov.