Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services (DHS) cleared the way Friday for local vaccinators to administer Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster shots for 16- and 17-year-olds at least six months after having received their second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
“The approval of the Pfizer vaccine booster dose for 16- and 17-year-olds provides another opportunity for more Wisconsinites to get additional protection from COVID-19,” said DHS Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake in a statement.. “The COVID-19 booster doses are important tools as we work to slow the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. Being fully vaccinated and getting a booster dose is the best protection for preventing the worst outcomes from COVID-19. We encourage everyone ages 16 and older to join the more than 1.2 million Wisconsinites who have already gotten their booster or additional COVID-19 vaccine dose.”
Friday’s recommendation supplements the previous CDC recommendation that anyone 18 and older receive a booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine at least six months after the completion of their Pfizer or Moderna vaccine primary series and two months after the single Johnson & Johnson dose, DHS officials said in a press release. The previous CDC recommendation allows for mix-and-match dosing for booster doses for those 18 and older. At this time, the Pfizer vaccine booster dose is the only one recommended for 16- and 17-year-olds.
The news comes after DHS has identified several cases of the Omicron variant in Wisconsin and is seeing continuing high levels of disease across our state.
