Mecklenburg County receives updated COVID-19 booster shots

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Mecklenburg County residents can start getting the updated COVID-19 booster on Wednesday.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the new booster, which has already been seen available at places like Walgreens and CVS.

Related: CDC endorses updated COVID boosters; shots to begin soon

The booster is a combination of the old vaccine and a new one aimed at the new, more contagious Omicron subvariant BA.5.

An overnight check of Mecklenburg County’s COVID-19 dashboard showed the BA.5 variant is responsible for about 75% of cases right now.

Mecklenburg County Public Health director Dr. Raynard Washington provided an update on those boosters during a call. He said the health department got 1,100 boosters this week.

According to Washington, the boosters are recommended for anyone who has already received their primary COVID-19 shots and booster at least two months ago.

“Everyone should get a new booster. Everyone is eligible if they’re over the age of 12, specifically,” Washington said. “This is not approved for those under the age of 12.”

Of those doses the county received, some were transferred to StarMed’s Central Avenue and Tuckaseegee Road locations.

“As of right now, we have an inventory of maybe about 400,” Dr. Mike Estramonte, president of Starmount Healthcare, said. “We anticipate we’ll get more as the demand continues to increase. But the new booster is popular right now, essentially because it covers the variants.”

He says when those 400 run out, they expect to get a new shipment shortly thereafter.

Two Charlotte area StarMed locations will also be offering the updated shots, free of charge and without scheduled appointments.

StarMed’s FreeMore clinic on Tuckaseegee Road and its Eastland clinic on Central Avenue are currently the two locations with the new vaccines.

To register for a COVID-19 vaccine or booster, click here.

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