CVS will provide third Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses later today (2024)

CVS will begin administering an additional dose of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine later in the day on Friday, a company spokesperson told CNN.

“Weare reviewing the CDC guidance and will be ready to provide the booster dose at CVS Pharmacy and select MinuteClinic locations that offer the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine later today,” Matt Blanchette, retail communications manager with CVS Pharmacy,told CNN in an email.

“We strongly encourage customers to schedule an appointment in advance at CVS.comto ensure they are able to access the correct vaccine at a convenient time and location," Blanchette added.

This comes after the CDC okayed the use of booster shots for people who got Pfizer vaccines at least six months ago and who are either 65 or older, or over 18 and with underlying conditions putting them at higher risk. She also added health care workers, first responders and others at high occupational risk of infection to the list.

Current recommendations for Covid-19 booster vaccines do not change the definition of who is fully vaccinated, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday

The CDC currently defines fully vaccinated as being 14 days past a second dose of an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine – Pfizer’s or Moderna’s -– or 14 days past one dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.

Booster doses ofCovid-19 will not be enough to end the Covid-19 pandemic, and the focus remains on vaccinating the unvaccinated, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday.

Walensky earlier okayed the use of booster shots for people who got Pfizer vaccines at least six months ago and who are either 65 or older, or over 18 and with underlying conditions putting them at higher risk. She also added health care workers, first responders and others at high occupational risk of infection to the list.

“While today's action was an initial step related to booster shots, it will not distract us from our most important focus: to get as many people as possible vaccinated with a primary series,” she said in a White House Covid-19 Response Team briefing.

Walensky said as cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are increasing in unvaccinated areas, “the most vulnerable are those unvaccinated.”

“If you are not vaccinated and eligible, I encourage you to get vaccinated to protect your community, your family and yourself," she said.

The leaders of two major unions representing teachers, principals and school supervisors in New York City say they have major concerns about how schools will be both safe and properly staffed ahead of Mayor Bill de Blasio's vaccine mandate deadline Monday.

Both the United Federation of Teachers and Council of School Supervisors and Administrators are calling on de Blasio to delay the deadline, which is Monday at midnight.

As of Thursday, 81% of all Department of Education employees and 87% of teachers have received at least one dose, according to the New York City Department of Education.

That means about 10,000 New York City school teachers have yet to upload proof of their vaccination. If they do not, they risk losing their jobs — faced with the option of either taking a year of unpaid leave, or leaving with a severance package.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew and Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Mark Cannizzaro said they both have no idea at this point just how bad things could be at each individual school, saying that information has not been shared openly by the NYC Board of Education.

“I've heard from several schools that have anywhere between 30 and 100 people currently on a non-compliant list,”Cannizzaro said.

Cannizzaro said that he’s heard urgent concerns from his members about what will unfold on Tuesday morning.

“We're probably going to land up in a place where all right, we have five schools in this district that need three or four teachers and then we have two other schools in the district that need 25 teachers,” Mulgrew said.

Cannizzaro and Mulgrew both said de Blasio’s optimism that enough people will get vaccinated by Monday night is not enough and have pushed for an actual plan of action.

“No one has reached out to find out exactly which schools are going to have an issue, and giving them additional support to make sure that the principal, the superintendent and everyone is comfortable that kids will be safe come Tuesday morning,” Cannizzaro said of the Department of Education

The department and de Blasio have said they are prepared for the Monday deadline with reserves prepared to deploy from pools of substitute teachers in the wings or other former teachers working in other areas. The Department of Education says it has a reserve pool of 11,000 substitute teachers.

CNN has reached out to the Mayor’s office and the NYC DOE for comment on the UFT and CSA remarks.

Health officials in the United States have said Covid-19vaccine boosters can beginfor older and higher-risk people there. But at least 15 countries around the world — most of them in Africa — have yet to give at least one vaccine dose to more than 3% of their population.

The decision by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention means millions of Americans can receive booster shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in the coming months.

But it goes against calls by the World Health Organization chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, forwealthy nations to refrain from boostingtheir Covid-19 vaccinations until at least the end of the year, to allow more supply to reach poorer nations.

Wealthier nations have beensupplying Covid-19 vaccine dosesbilaterally and through WHO's vaccine-sharing program COVAX, but donations haveso far fallen shortof what was pledged for this year.

At least 15 nations have yet to give at least one vaccine dose to more than 3% of their population, according to thelatest figures compiled by Reuters. The proportion of people fully vaccinated in these nations is smaller still.

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President Biden advised Americans currently outside the eligible groups who might be looking to get Covid-19 booster shots to wait their turn.

While speaking about the pandemic and boosters at the White House, Biden said scientists and doctors are analyzing data on the potential for .

Right now, Pfizer booster shots are available to people 65 years of age and older, those with underlying medical conditions and frontline workers.

President Biden called on Americans who have become eligible for Pfizer’s Covid-19 booster shots to get a third shot “now,” and announced he would be getting one himself soon in remarks Friday.

He added that he was “not sure exactly when” that would happen but that he would get it “as soon as I can.”

His remarks come hours after US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walenskydiverged from the agency's independent vaccine advisersto recommend boosters for a broader group of people — those ages 18 to 64 who are at increased risk of Covid-19 because of their workplaces or institutional settings — in addition to adults 65 and older, long-term care facility residents and some people with underlying health conditions.

President Biden, speaking from the White House about the Covid-19 pandemic and booster vaccines, said the US has made incredible progress in vaccinating millions of Americans — but 25% of eligible people have still failed to get a single dose of the vaccine.

He continued: "And to make matters worse, there areelected officials activelyworking to undermine with falseinformation the fight againstCovid-19.This is totally unacceptable."

Biden said that while "the vast majority of Americansare doing the right thing," one in four eligible Americans have still not gotten their first vaccine dose.

"In a country as large as ours,that 25% minority can cause anawful lot of damage. They arecausing a lot of damage," he said, adding that unvaccinated people "overcrowd ourhospitals" and put stress on the health care system.

While encouraging Americans 65 years old and over, those with underlying medical conditions and frontline workers who received Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine to get booster shots now, President Biden also said people who received Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines that they still have "a high degree of protection."

"Again, the bottom line is ifyou're fully vaccinated, you'rehighly protected from severeillness, even if you getCovid-19," he said.