Dare County accepting registration for additional COVID-19 vaccine dose

Dare County DHHS is now accepting registrations for an additional COVID-19 Vaccine dose for individuals with moderate and severe immune compromise. Register online at www.darenc.com/Register4Vaccine. You will receive a call between 8/17 and 8/19 for an appointment the week of 8/23.

Following endorsement from the FDA and ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) the CDC and NC DHHS has now endorsed the use of an additional dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to people with moderate to severely compromised immune systems after an initial two-dose vaccine series. The age groups authorized to receive the additional dose are unchanged from those authorized to receive the primary vaccination series:

• Pfizer-BioNTech: aged ≥12 years
• Moderna: aged ≥18 years

Vaccine providers may begin administering an additional dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to people with moderate to severely compromised immune systems after an initial two-dose vaccine series.

Conditions and treatments associated with moderate and severe immune compromise include but are not limited to:

• 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 syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
• 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, tumor-necrosis (TNF) blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory.

Individuals eligible for a booster dose, based on a self-attestation to being moderate or severely immunocompromised, may be administered an additional dose accordingly:

• The additional dose should be administered at least 28 days after the completion of the initial mRNA COVID-19 vaccine series.
• The additional mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose should be the same vaccine product as the initial 2-dose mRNA COVID-19 primary vaccine series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna). If the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine product given for the first two doses is not available, the other mRNA COVID-19 vaccine product may be administered.
• A person should not receive more than three mRNA COVID-19 vaccine doses.

If you meet the criteria for being moderately to severe immunocompromised and would like an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine please register online for an appointment.  If you have questions about whether you meet the criteria for moderate to severe immunocompromised, please consult your medical provider for guidance prior to registering for the additional dose of the vaccine.

Currently there are insufficient data to support the use of an additional mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose after a single-dose Janssen COVID-19 vaccination series in immunocompromised people. FDA and CDC are actively working to provide guidance on this issue.

Communications and Information Sharing

Dare County DHHS has an established schedule of communication to share information regarding COVID-19. Every Tuesday, a written update which includes the previous week’s COVID-19 key metrics is issued. Additional updates will be released as needed. All released videos and written updates can be found on our website, DHHS facebook page, Dare County Twitter page, and Dare Emergency Management Twitter page. If you would like to receive these updates directly to your email, please sign up to receive our enotifications.

New positive cases are updated on the dashboard and on our website and shared on the DHHS facebook page Monday- Friday. To find the most up-to-date information on COVID-19 cases in Dare County visit www.darenc.com/covid19. State COVID-19 data is available at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard.

Contact Us

We encourage you to stay informed by visiting www.darenc.com/covid19 or by visiting the CDC or NC DHHS websites. If you have specific needs or questions you may also call the Dare County COVID-19 call center open Monday-Friday from 8:30 to 5:00 at 252-475-5008.