Please read the message below from Dr. Rob Phillips sent September 12, 2022
On Aug. 31, Pfizer and Moderna’s applications for emergency use authorization for new COVID-19 boosters were approved by the FDA and the CDC. The new bivalent (or hybrid) COVID-19 vaccines have arrived at Houston Methodist and will be available soon. For greater detail on the new booster, please see this FAQ.
The new vaccines target two viral omicron subvariant strains BA.4 and BA.5, which have been responsible for most cases this summer. At Houston Methodist, 99% of sequenced tests are BA.4 and BA.5. This new targeted booster vaccine is expected to rebuild immunity to the original coronavirus strain and defend against omicron variants. We strongly recommend you get the booster to keep our patients, you and your family even safer from COVID-19. At this time, Houston Methodist will not mandate the new booster. We will continue to follow the scientific data, the level of infections in the community and the availability of vaccines and may mandate the new booster in the future if necessary.
The booster is available from Employee Health and you can schedule one and fill out your consent form in the Employee Health Portal.
Previous COVID-19 vaccines were very successful in preventing infection and keeping you from a severe case of COVID-19. Even now, an original vaccine series with up-to-date boosters is highly effective in preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death. Vaccines have saved hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States and have had very few documented side effects. The fall shot will be one of the most important COVID-19 vaccines offered to Americans since the initial doses. See our blog, On Health, for a great explanation of how the updated boosters work.
The booster will be available from Employee Health and more details about scheduling the booster is forthcoming. This comes at the same time as the annual flu shot and although there is no medical reason to not receive both vaccines in the same visit, people who react strongly to the COVID-19 vaccine or flu shot may want to wait a few days in between.
Thank you for all you have done the past few years to fight COVID-19. We can’t stop now. I remain amazed at what we can do when we work together to keep our patients and ourselves safe.
Robert A. Phillips, MD, PhD, FACC
Executive Vice President & Chief Physician Executive, Houston Methodist
President & CEO, Houston Methodist Physician Organization
Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College
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