State considering expanding COVID boosters for adults

Connecticut officials are considering expanding booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines to any adult who wants one, after New York City announced boosters will be available to all adults going forward.

Max Reiss, Gov. Ned Lamont’s director of communications, said late Monday that a decision on whether to expand booster eligibility is not imminent.

“We’re looking to expand eligibility for boosters knowing that there continues to be high level of interest,” Reiss said, adding the governor is “closely monitoring” what other states are doing.

“We are hopeful that boosters will soon be available for all adults regardless of medical conditions or work setting,” Commissioner Manisha Juthani of the state Department of Public Health said in a statement Monday. However, she said that “most” adults in the state are already eligible, whether because of age, medical condition or where they work.

“The list of medical conditions is quite broad and includes diabetes, COPD, having previously been or are currently a smoker, mental health disorders, or even just being overweight,” Juthani said. “We encourage everyone to get a booster if they are eligible, and to receive their flu shot as well.”

On Monday, New York City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said adults should not be turned away for a booster by providers, provided they are over the age of 18, and six months has passed since they received their second shot of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, or two months in the case of Johnson & Johnson recipients.

“Clinicians should allow adult patients to determine their own risk of exposure based on their own individual circumstances,” Chokshi said.

Last week, Pfizer asked the FDA to expand booster shots for its vaccine to all adults, after regulators initially limited the scope of who is eligible.

Currently, recipients of the two MRNA vaccines — those from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech — are eligible for a booster six months after their initial shots under federal guidelines if they are over the age of 65, are over the age of 18 and have certain underlying medical conditions, or if they live or work in a high risk setting.

Anyone who is over the age of 18 who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine should receive a booster shot two months after their first dose under the guidelines.