Covid -- Additional Booster?

Booked my shot online at Walgreens. Appointments are available starting September 18.

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I have an appointment this Saturday at CVS, hopefully the vaccine will be there!

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@mathmom My appointment is also Saturday at a CVS. The online scheduling allowed me to scedule the newest Covid 2023-2024 shot. Is there a reason to think they will not have it when I get there even though I was allowed to schedule it?

Not that I know of, but I was able to schedule an RSV shot a couple of weeks ago. I got a call the day I was supposed to get the shot to tell me they had run out, but I should just go to a different CVS in our town. When I got there, they didn’t have it either. I finally found it at a third CVS. So I don’t have a lot of faith in their online scheduling system.

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Hopefully something like that won’t happen to either of this Saturday! Good luck and hope side effects, if any, are minimal for you!

Is there any charge for this booster? My stupid insurance only pays if it’s done in the minute clinic, not in the pharmacy.

H gets his today at CVS and I’m getting mine this weekend.

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The government is not paying for these shots, so your insurance rules apply. Probably worth it to call and ask your insurer how they are handling this vaccine.

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they are covered by the Preventive care requirements of your health care insurance. So, you will need to follow your insurance rules for obtaining vaccines.

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And of course, it’s only in the U.S. that you’d get shot in hopes to avoid hospitalization. :wink:

I contacted the insurance company. Apparently if it’s done in the pharmacy it’s subject to whatever our pharmacy/RX plan covers. If it’s done in the minute clinic it’s covered under our medical health plan. Apparently the medical Plan doesn’t consider pharmacists “healthcare providers”!! :flushed:

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Do you have an online list from your insurance about what pharmacies are covered/in network with your insurance? That’s where I looked to be sure our insurance would cover us at CVS.

I am just going g to use the Minute clinic to be safe!

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Got my flu shot and Covid booster today at CVS.

Hadn’t planned on doing it today but it was available and I had the time.

DH also got his Covid booster at an CVS, too, and his flu shot he got earlier in week.

We are set.

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We got RSV & flu shots on separate days at Walgreens because CVS isn’t processing well with our bcbs plan and didn’t have readily available appts. There was no copay! Yay!

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At the CDC ACIP meeting on Tuesday, one of the presentations was on how the new shot will be free to all. There is even a special program for the uninsured/underinsured (although I am a little skeptical on just how well the word will get out, since the CDC has had communication challenges).

Yes, but it is more complicated than the previous government provided doses, since people have to figure out how to get it under their insurance or figure out how to use the program for the uninsured.

YLE’s recommendation on when to get the booster:

Summary for those who had an infection:

  • Minimum wait 2-3 months to get benefit from the booster.
  • Maximum wait 8-12 months to get maximum benefit from the booster.
  • However, waiting longer increases the window of risk for higher risk people.
  • So YLE recommends 4 months for higher risk people and at least 6 months for others.
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My S23 tested positive on Monday (he was asymptomatic but had been in a small dorm room with three others the day before who all tested positive and notified him).

He had his bivalent booster in October 2022, and then had covid (with a ton of symptoms and felt awful for 10 days) in December 2022.

He’s had no symptoms all this week, and is hoping to test out of isolation today or tomorrow.

He was planning on getting the fall booster as soon as it was issued, but with this positive test this week that of course changes. But it’s hard to parse whether or not he should get a booster say in 6 months, so that he’s protected through the end of the school year, and has 6 months before the (presumably) fall boosters next year, or…?

It’s so tricky. :frowning:

It is a reasonable strategy for him to wait 6+ months before getting the booster, in order not to “waste” it by getting it too soon after infection.

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