Here’s where kids, adults can get updated COVID-19 booster shots in Wichita

If you haven’t gotten your latest COVID-19 booster shot but want to before cold weather settles in, you have options.

The FDA authorized both the Pfizer and Moderna bivalent booster shots in late August. The shots target the original coronavirus and Omicron subvariants.

Anyone 5 or over can get a booster now. The FDA and CDC signed off on the bivalent boosters for children 5-11 earlier this month. The Pfizer bivalent is available for ages 5 and up. The Moderna booster is for ages 6 and up.

Anyone wanting a new COVID-19 booster shot should have had the two primary COVID shots, with the last shot — either primary or initial booster — at least two months ago. If you have recently had COVID, the CDC recommends delaying your next vaccine dose, primary or booster, for three months from when your symptoms first started.

The bivalent boosters are available at the Sedgwick County Health Department and at major chains such as CVS, Dillons, Walgreens and Wal-Mart. For a full list of locations offering the boosters visit vaccines.org. The page will ask for your ZIP code.

Sedgwick County offers the Pfizer bivalent booster for ages 12 and up and is expecting its first shipment of the pediatric bivalent booster for ages 5-11 soon.

The county’s main vaccination site at 2716 W. Central is fully booked through the end of October. People who want to make an appointment for November should call 316-660-7300.

The county also has mobile clinics available for walk-ins. A list of locations with date and times can found on the county website; the next scheduled mobile clinic is Nov. 7 at Walters Library, 4195 E. Harry St.

Wichita public schools is hosting COVID vaccination clinics that include primary shots and either bivalent booster for children on Oct. 28 and 29 and Nov. 4 and 5 at the Alvin E. Morris administrative Center, 903 S. Edgemoor. To schedule an appointment, click here.

The school district will provide shots only to students, staff and family of both, spokesperson Susan Arensman said.

A vaccine dosage schedule on the county website shows what shots to get depending on age.

The county has administered 1,459 bivalent booster shots to people ages 12 and up, county COVID-19 communications coordinator Stephanie Birmingham said in an email.

“It’s OK to mix-and-match vaccine brands. If someone had Moderna last time, they can get Pfizer this time, as long as it’s been at least two months since their last COVID shot,” Birmingham said.

People who are interested in getting their COVID vaccine or booster along with a flu shot can do that, according to the Sedgwick County Health Department and the CDC.

“Typically these shots are handled by different nurses, but if staff knows ahead of time that a patient wants both, they will schedule accordingly,” Birmingham said.

“While it is safe to get both shots at the same time, the head nurse advised that if someone has never received a flu or COVID shot in the past, it’s a good idea to get them separately,” Birmingham said. “At first if there’s a reaction, it’s obvious which shot caused it.”

Concerns about side effects of getting both shots are addressed on the CDC’s frequently asked questions tab. The CDC says people who receive both shots “at the same time were slightly (8% to 11%) to report systemic reactions than people who only received a COVID-19 booster vaccine,” the website Q&A section read.

Those systemic reactions (symptoms) include fatigue, headache and muscle aches, which the CDC says were mostly mild and resolved quickly.

CDC recommendations also say there are exceptions for getting both shots at the same time.

“If you haven’t gotten your currently recommended doses of COVID-19 vaccine, get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can, and ideally get a flu vaccine by the end of October,” the CDC said.