COVID-19 Vaccine Information

State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo has announced new guidance regarding mRNA vaccines. The Florida Department of Health conducted an analysis through a self-controlled case series, which is a technique originally developed to evaluate vaccine safety. This analysis found that there is an 84% increase in the relative incidence of cardiac-related death among males 18-39 years old within 28 days following mRNA vaccination.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration updated the emergency use authorizations of the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccine for administration of a single booster at least two months after a primary or booster dose is given to help protect against the COVID-19 omicron variant. Adults aged 18 and up are eligible to receive the Moderna booster, while anyone 12 and up are eligible to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech booster.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 to include use in children down to six months of age. Enrolled providers are able to order COVID-19 vaccines for this age group through Florida SHOTS. Learn more.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revised the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to discontinue the administration of sotrovimab. Bebtelovimab is Florida’s only available monoclonal antibody treatment.

Based on currently available data, healthy children aged 5-17 may not benefit from receiving the currently available COVID-19 vaccine. The Department recommends that children with underlying conditions are the best candidates for the COVID-19 vaccine. Learn more.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revised the Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA) for Eli Lilly’s bamlanivimab-etesevimab and Regeneron’s REGEN-COV monoclonal antibody treatments, discontinuing their use by any U.S. state or jurisdiction. The full Florida Department of Health press release can be found here.

The CDC recommends that moderately or severely immunocompromised children 5-11 years old receive an additional primary dose of vaccine 28 days after their second shot. At this time, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is authorized and recommended for this use.

The CDC recommends that people can now receive a booster shot five months after completing their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series. The booster interval for people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine (two months) or the Moderna vaccine (six months), is unchanged.