Marin providers gear for 2nd COVID booster shots

Starting Thursday, Marin County will offer a second COVID-19 vaccine booster shot to people who are eligible under new federal guidelines.

“But we’re not feeling a sense of urgency as we have in the past,” said Dr. Matt Willis, the county’s public health officer.

On Tuesday, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended an additional booster for immunocompromised people and people over the age of 50 who received an initial booster dose at least four months ago.

Willis, however, stressed the wording of the government’s announcement.

“They recommended increasing the eligibility for the booster,” Willis said. “It’s not an actual recommendation that people get the fourth dose, it’s a recommendation that the eligibility be expanded.”

Willis said that while the county will make the booster available, it is not making a recommendation that everyone get a booster now.

The Food and Drug Administration based its decision to authorize the second booster based mainly on limited data from Israel. One study showed that a second booster returned antibody levels to where they were after people received their first boosters.

“But the study wasn’t large,” Willis said, “and the evidence that those individuals were meaningfully protected against severe illness was less strong.”

“The people who are fully vaccinated and who have gotten that first booster are well protected,” he said. “I’m actually more concerned about those who haven’t been vaccinated or received that first booster.”

In Marin, 92% of eligible residents have been fully vaccinated and 98% have received at least one shot, but just 61.8% have received a booster.

“We also see important disparities within that group by race and ethnicity,” Willis said. “That is obviously a health equity concern.”

Among residents eligible to be vaccinated, 68% of Marin’s Asian population, 64% of its White population, 42% of its Latino population and 39% of its Black population have received a booster.

Willis said he believes the disparity is primarily due to belief and choice.

“We’ve done everything we can to remove barriers based on access,” he said. “We’re working on an education campaign as we have for other stages of the pandemic that is really targeted at those communities.”

Willis said the county will begin scheduling appointments for second boosters, free of charge, beginning Thursday. He expects the second booster to be available through stores and pharmacies as well.

Marin has not had a surge of new COVID-19 cases despite the fact that the omicron variant’s more transmissible BA.2 subvariant now accounts for about 75% of the county’s new COVID-19 cases.

As of Sunday, the county was reporting a seven-day rolling average of about 30 new COVID-19 cases daily, compared to a seven-day rolling average of 590 daily cases on Jan. 8. On Wednesday, there were just two people hospitalized in Marin because of COVID-19, and none were in intensive care.

“As the days and weeks pass and we’re seeing a lot of BA.2 without seeing a net increase in case rates or hospitalizations, we’re reassured that the BA.2 subvariant will not lead to a significant impact,” Willis said.

He added, however, that the subvariant is evidence of how quickly the virus can mutate, which remains an ongoing concern.

Major retail chains announced plans to provide the second round of boosters.

Walgreens said it would begin taking walk-in appointments as store capacity allows, and that online appointment scheduling will be available via the Walgreens app or online at Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine starting Friday.

Rite Aid said Wednesday that second COVID-19 boosters are now available at all of its locations for eligible people who either may walk in immediately or schedule an appointment at riteaid.com/pharmacy/scheduler.

CVS said eligible patients “soon” will be able to schedule an additional dose four months after their initial booster at CVS.com, MinuteClinic.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app. Same-day or walk-in vaccination appointments might be possible, CVS said, but are subject to local demand.

The California Department of Public Health announced support for second booster doses Wednesday by the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, representing health officials in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, a move that may clear the way for more providers to begin giving shots.

Kaiser Permanente said Wednesday afternoon that it expects to be able to administer second booster doses by appointment to the newly eligible populations “by Tuesday, if not sooner.”

Sutter Health said Tuesday it was waiting for further guidance from health officials.

Bay Area News Group contributed to this report.