Some can get third dose of COVID vaccine in Wake, Johnston

Wake and Johnston counties began offering a third dose of coronavirus vaccine to certain groups on Monday.

Posted 11:13 a.m. Aug 16, 2021 — Updated 12:47 a.m. Aug 17, 2021

Keely Arthur

, WRAL reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — Wake and Johnston counties began offering a third dose of coronavirus vaccine to certain groups on Monday.

The booster shot is available to people with weakened immune systems who have already received two doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

Those eligible include:

Cancer patients undergoing active treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood and organ transplant recipients taking medicine to suppress their immune systems
Stem cell transplant recipients who are less than two years out from their transplant and taking medicine to suppress their immune systems
Anyone with moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency
Anyone with advanced or an untreated HIV infection
Anyone receiving high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that may suppress their immune response

People in those groups make up only 3 percent of the population, but they account for 44 percent of the "breakthrough" cases in which fully vaccinated people still get infected.

The extra dose was recommended last week by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"These are very sick patients at baseline, or they’ve been through some very serious medical things at baseline, so any tool that we can do to protect them first is critical," said Jason Wittes, Wake County's pharmacy director.

Jack Cozort, who received a heart transplant five years ago, said he plans to get his booster shot by Tuesday. However, he said, he knows that he's still at high risk and asks people who aren't dealing with a weakened immune system to do their part by getting vaccinated and wearing masks.

"For somebody like me, for all organ transplant patients, we will always have compromised immune systems because we have to take drugs to keep our bodies from rejecting the transplant organs," Cozort said. "That's a way of life for me, and so my new normal may be having to be extra cautious all the time."

Patients won't be required to prove they are immunocompromised, but they will be asked to sign a digital form acknowledging their condition. The CDC doesn't currently recommend third vaccines for the general population.

"We are going to ask that you are going to provide your name and date of birth, just like you were coming in to get your first or second shot," Wittes said. "We’ve already seen ... people who say, 'I live with my wife or partner who is immunocompromised'" and try to get the shot.

The vaccines will be offered with or without appointment at Wake County's six vaccine sites.

In Johnston County, third doses will be available at regularly scheduled vaccine clinics Monday through Friday at the Health Department, at 517 N. Brightleaf Blvd. in Smithfield, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Tuesdays, clinic hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Third doses will also be administered at outreach clinics:

Aug. 18 at Benson Housing Authority/Raymond Sanders I from 1 to 3 p.m.
Aug. 19 at Selma Middle School from 5 to 7 p.m.
Aug. 20 at Clayton High School from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Aug. 22 at BrightLeaf Flea Market from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The vaccine is free, and no proof of insurance is required.

Research is still being done on a booster for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and the CDC hasn't approved people trying to mix vaccines to get a booster.

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