Situation Report | November 22, 2021
Surge and Flex Operations Center Open During Holiday Weekend
The state Department of Health (DOH) advises providers that its Surge and Flex Operations Center is open and available over the holiday weekend should providers have problems with covering cases or obtaining personal protective equipment. The number is 917-909-2676. Calls that come into this line will be forwarded to staff on duty over the holiday week and weekend for follow up.
Booster Shots
On November 19, 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices unanimously endorsed booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines for all adults.
Anyone 50 or older, and anyone 18 or older living in a long-term care facility, who already have been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine should receive a COVID-19 booster dose, the Committee determined. Additionally, anyone 18 or older who already has been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine may receive a COVID-19 booster dose.
This follows action on the same day by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to amend the emergency use authorizations for both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, authorizing use of a single booster dose for everyone aged 18 years old or more after they have completed primary vaccination with any FDA-authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine.