Vermont has dropped its Moderna and Pfizer Covid-19 booster restrictions to implement a “universal booster program,” Gov. Phil Scott announced Wednesday.
Now any adult can get a booster if they received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago, or if they received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago.
The state plans to simplify the online registration process, Scott said in a press release, and walk-ins are also welcome at state-run vaccination sites.
“At this point, we need to shift to getting everyone boosted to help reduce the disruption of higher cases and minimize transmission to at-risk Vermonters, particularly through the winter months,” Scott said in the release.
The booster protocols for Vermonters who received the J&J vaccine remain unchanged. Since late October, those have been available to all vaccinated adults more than two months out from their initial dose.
The state’s written guidelines had more tightly restricted boosters for anyone who received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. (However, not all booster sites screened against the requirements, and at a press conference earlier this month, Scott had said the “vast majority of people are eligible if you read the number of qualifications, so I would say if you want one, you could get one.”)
About half of Vermonters 65 and older have already received a booster dose. While case numbers have recently climbed to new heights among the population at large — a 16% rise in the past week — they’ve declined by 2% among that older age group, state officials said on Tuesday.
[Looking for data on breakthrough cases? See our reporting on the latest available statistics.]
Mike Pieciak, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation, speculated that decrease was due to the high booster rate among people 65 and older.
With Wednesday’s announcement, Vermont joins a handful of other states in circumventing federal booster restrictions, according to reporting by The Washington Post.
Earlier this month, California public health officials sent a letter to vaccine providers, instructing them to give a booster to any adult who wants one and has satisfied the waiting period, the Post reported. Health officials in Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas, West Virginia and New York City have given similar directives.
Guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still restrict boosters for Moderna and Pfizer recipients, and recommend boosters be limited to people with other risk factors, such as having an underlying health condition or living in a long-term care facility.
Pfizer and BioNTech submitted a request to the FDA last week that their booster be made available to all adults.
State officials, in Vermont and elsewhere, have expressed hopes that increasing booster shot uptake could help soften a winter spike around the holidays.
“We want to be clear: Everyone over age 18 should get a booster as soon as possible,” Scott said in the press release. “This will be the most important step you can take to help us get through this winter flu season and continue moving forward from pandemic to endemic.”
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