Valley Pharmacy offers boosters to immunocompromised

Published 7:43 am Thursday, August 19, 2021

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As of Monday, the immunocompromised can sign up to be approved for booster shots of the Moderna vaccine against COVID-19 at Valley Pharmacy located at 4103 20th Ave in Valley.

“The CDC says that they recommend that moderately or severely immunocompromised people receive an additional dose,” said Angie Moore, who co-owns Valley Pharmacy with her husband, Craig Moore. “People who are in this category include people who are getting active cancer treatments or people who have undergone an organ transplant, people who have received a stem cell transplant within the last two years, people with primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge syndrome or Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome), people who have advanced or untreated HIV infections, or people who are getting active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that may suppress their immune response.”

Moore said that a person interested in getting a booster shot has two options.

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They can have their doctor send their prescription to the pharmacy with their diagnosis on it or they can fill out an attestation form and provide their own proof that they have a condition.

“You’d have to bring in progress notes, or you’d have to bring in a prescription bottle that had that label on it for a medicine that you’re taking on a regular basis,” she said. “You’d have to show us proof that you fit into that category because we’re held accountable to the CDC for supplying the vaccine as directed.”

Moore said the prescription bottle would have to have the diagnosis on it.

Moore said the pharmacy is holding clinics on Wednesdays. If demand becomes high enough, it may hold clinics on other days.

“What we’re doing is we’ll pre-approve you for the booster, and then we go on to schedule it,” she said.

To receive a booster shot, a patient must have received their second dose of the Moderna vaccine no less than 28 days ago. Moore said the pharmacy requires proof of this.

Those who have received the Pfizer vaccine should find a pharmacy offering booster shots for that vaccine.

“If you took the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, right now, you do not need a booster,” she said.