On August 14, Santa Clara County officials announced a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines are now available for individuals who have a compromised immune system.
Effective immediately, eligible individuals can contact their primary healthcare provider for consideration of the third dose. Those who qualify for an additional dose is someone who is moderately or severely immunocompromised as defined by the CDC:
- Active treatment for solid tumor and hematologic malignancies
- Receipt of solid-organ transplant and taking immunosuppressive therapy
- Receipt of CAR-T-cell or hematopoietic stem cell transplant (within 2 years of transplantation or taking immunosuppression therapy)
- Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (e.g., DiGeorge, Wiskott-Aldrich syndromes)
- Advanced or untreated HIV infection
- Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids (i.e., ≥20mg prednisone or equivalent per day), alkylating agents, antimetabolites, transplant-related immunosuppressive drugs, cancer chemotherapeutic agents classified as severely immunosuppressive, TNF blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory
The third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine is only available for eligible individuals who had either Pfizer or Moderna, but not Johnson & Johnson. The additional dose will be matched to the initial vaccination type.
All County Health System mass vaccination sites will be able to accommodate third doses for eligible individuals, with community-based mobile sites to begin by mid-week this week.
For more information about COVID-19 vaccines in Santa Clara County, click here.