COVID vaccine boosters: Pharmacies are offering third shots — but only for some

CVS, Hy-Vee, Jewel-Osco and Walgreens are among the big U.S. pharmacy chains that this week started offering third shots for people who already received their two COVID-19 vaccinations. But only people who are severely to moderately immunocompromised can get the additional shots so far, according to the companies.

The pharmacies said they are following the guidance of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which on Friday said that transplant recipients and others with severely weakened immune systems can get an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Under that guideline, about 10 million people in the U.S. may qualify for the additional shots now, with roughly 3% of Americans estimated to be immunocompromised. That means most people will need to wait to get an additional shot amid a surge in COVID-19 cases linked to the highly contagious Delta variant. CVS and Walgreens say they are preparing to administer vaccine boosters to the wider public once they are approved by the the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 1 in 4 people who have heard about booster shots are worried about waning vaccine protection, the Kaiser Family Foundation found in a recent survey.