The CDC recommends everyone ages 18 and older should get a COVID-19 booster.

If you received Pfizer or Moderna, you should get a booster at least 6 months after completing your primary COVID-19 vaccination series

If you received the J&J vaccine, you should get a booster at least 6 months after completing your primacy COVID-19 vaccination.

Your booster can be any of the COVID-19 vaccines available.  Some people prefer the vaccine type they originally received and others may prefer a different booster.  The CDC allows for mixing and matching booster doses if you prefer.

The Macon County Health Department has Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J booster vaccines available; we hold weekly clinics for all three vaccines.  Call for an appointment at 660-395-4711 or request an appointment online and an employee will call you to schedule an appointment.

For your appointment, bring your vaccination card, a photo ID, and an insurance card (if you have insurance).  Like the COVID-19 vaccine, the booster shot is free, however, we are allowed to bill insurance for an administration fee to help our office recover the costs of giving the vaccine.

The Macon County Health Department also has Moderna, Pfizer, and J&J vaccines available for initial doses if you would like to be vaccinated against COVID-19.  Vaccination helps reduce the risk of severe illness and hospitalization against COVID-19.  The Pfizer COVID-19 has been approved for ages 5 and up, however, the Health Department does not carry the youth doses.  For COVID-19vaccines for children under the age of 5, please contact Samaritan Hospital or your physician.

You may experience side effects after getting a COVID-19 vaccine.  These side effects are a normal reaction that your body is building protection against COVID-19.  If you are experiencing severe symptoms, please call 911, your healthcare provider, or go to a local emergency department.

Vaccines are the best way to help reduce the risk of severe illness and hospitalization due to COVID-19.

Pfizer Booster Dose –

A Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster dose is available for individuals who qualify at least six months after their initial 2-dose series is complete.  Based on CDC guidance, those who qualify:

• people 65 years and older and residents in long-term care settings should receive a booster;
• people aged 50–64 years with underlying medical conditions should receive a booster;
• people aged 18–49 years with underlying medical conditions may receive a booster; and
• people aged 18-64 years who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional setting (e.g. frontline medical workers, teachers, and first responders) may receive a booster.

Underlying medical conditions include: cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung diseases, dementia, diabetes, down syndrome, heart conditions, HIV, immunocompromised individuals, liver disease, overweight/obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease, smoking (current or former), solid organ or blood transplant, stroke and/or substance use disorder.  Talk with your healthcare provider if you have questions on whether the booster dose is recommended for you based on medical conditions.

Pfizer booster doses are available at Samaritan Hospital and may be available in limited quantities at the Macon County Health Department by appointment.  To make an appointment at Samaritan Hospital, call 660-385-8746.  To make an appointment at the Macon County Health Department, call 660-395-4711.  It is important to bring your vaccine card to your appointment for the booster dose to make sure you are eligible based on your first two doses and enough time has passed for the booster dose.

Moderna Booster Dose

For individuals who received a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the following groups are eligible for a booster shot at 6 months or more after their initial series.

• 65 years and older
• Age 18+ who live in long-term care settings
• Age 18+ who have underlying medical conditions
• Age 18+ who work or live in high-risk settings

Janssen/Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine

Booster shots are also recommended for those who are 18 and older and who were vaccinated two or more months ago.

Community Testing Events to Follow New Sewershed Surveillance Data  

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Recent results from community sewershed surveillance in Macon are indicative of possible increases in COVID-19 transmission in the area. During the week of July 12^th, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) saw increasing trends in concentrations of COVID-19 genetic fragments in wastewater from the Macon (Macon County) sewershed.  Sewershed surveillance metrics are not a direct estimate of the COVID-19 positive human cases in the area. Rather, they provide an indication that COVID-19 transmission is likely increasing among the population in sewershed areas.

DHSS and the Macon County Health Department encourage you to attend an upcoming free testing event, whether you are experiencing symptoms or not.  Community testing events such as this can provide you helpful information to better protect yourself and your family.  It also provides extremely valuable information to public health officials for monitoring COVID-19 transmission in Missouri.

The event in your area will be held on July 30^th at the Macon County Park in front of Floral Hall, US Hwy 63 South (Across from YMCA), Macon, from 11am to 7pm.  No registration is required.  For information on this event and other free testing options in Missouri, visit health.mo.gov/communitytest or call 877-435-8411. Translation services are available.