IDPH adopting CDC recommendations for Pfizer booster shot

Posted on September 25, 2021
Earlier this year, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike received her first coronavirus vaccine. (Photo courtesy: Gov. Pritzker/Twitter)

By WJBC Staff

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is adopting CDC recommendations for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

The guidelines are out, and State Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike offers the details.

“It is recommended for seniors 65 and over no matter where they live, as well as long-term care residents no matter the age. Those are individuals who should receive this booster of Pfizer if it’s been six months since their primary series of Pfizer.”

Additionally, those aged 18 to 49 with an underlying medical condition may get the booster shot, and those 18 to 64 working in jobs with a lot of exposure are advised as well.

“What we need to highlight is that these are for people who started off with Pfizer. We don’t yet have FDA authorization for people who got the J&J (Johnson and Johnson) or Moderna vaccines.”

Ezike says the booster shot is given six months after the initial two doses.

WJBC staff can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…