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Syracuse, NY – Onondaga County will host its first Covid-19 booster clinics this week for people at high risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from the respiratory virus and who have already received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
The first clinic will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, September 29 at the Oncenter at 800 S. State St. A second clinic will be held the next day – Thursday, September 30 – at the Oncenter.
Hours for the second clinic have not yet been set and will depend on the attendance rate for the first clinic. “We don’t know what the demand will look like,” Onondaga County Manager Ryan McMahon said on Monday.
The clinics will be held in partnership with Kinney Drugs. They are free and open to those who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine at least six months ago and who are:
- 65 years or older
- 18 – 64 years of age and have an underlying medical condition that puts them at high risk, or whose work or institutional setting puts them at increased risk of exposure and transmission to COVID-19
McMahon said those who received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines are not eligible for booster shots because the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not approved the use of booster shots from those drugmakers.
People must register in advance for clinics on the county website, ongov.net, or the Kinney Drugs website.
Residents can also receive the booster shots at their doctor’s office or at any pharmacy offering Covid-19 vaccines.
In addition, the state is giving Covid-19 booster injections at the Art and Home Center at the State Fairgrounds in Geddes. Appointments can be made on the state website.
Five people in the county died from Covid-19 over the weekend, McMahon reported. Three men in their 40s, 50s and 80s – all with underlying health issues – have died. A woman in her 50s with no underlying condition and a woman in her 60s with an underlying condition have died.
McMahon said he did not know if any of the people who died had been vaccinated.
The deaths bring the number of county residents who died of illness during the coronavirus pandemic to 767.
Thirty-one more Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospitals over the weekend. Fifty-one percent of them were unvaccinated, McMahon said.
He said 22, or 92%, of the county’s 24 Covid-19 patients who are in intensive care units were not vaccinated.
Health experts say the best way for people to avoid becoming seriously ill or dying from Covid-19 is to get vaccinated.
McMahon said 348 people in the county tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, 188 on Sunday and 169 on Monday.
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