Pharmacist Richard P. Stryker, R.Ph. administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to Elaine Militello, a veterinary student, at Bayshore Pharmacy in Atlantic Highlands
By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez
Ever since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced its recommendation of a third dose – or booster shot – of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for some of the U.S. population, patients began heading to pharmacies and other facilities to receive the added protection they hope will help them get back to living their pre-pandemic lives.
The (CDC) provides for the administration of booster doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at least six months after completion of the primary series to help increase protection. As of now, those eligible are people 65 years and older and residents in longterm care settings; people age 18-64 years with underlying medical conditions; or people age 18-64 years who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional settings, including health care workers.According to the New Jersey Department of Health, those seeking the booster vaccination will not be required to provide proof of a medical condition or a note from a medical provider in order to receive a booster dose in the state. Ever since Richard P. Stryker, R.Ph. of Bayshore Pharmacy Cards & Gifts in Atlantic Highlands and Middletown Family Pharmacy in the Belford section of Middletown, received the vaccine for distribution this spring, he has been able to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to the community.
Earlier this year, when the vaccine first became available, it was much more difficult to get that shot in the arm; hordes of vulnerable people eligible for the vaccine, due to age or underlying conditions, made the quest to be vaccinated almost herculean.
Even pharmacists like Stryker could not get hold of the vaccine. “My parents had to go to a to a state facility to get their vaccine,” he said.
Now Stryker is glad his pharmacy is able to order freely from the federal distribution network through his pharmacy network. “So, we have plenty of ordering capacity,” he said, “and there’s been a lot of interest” in that booster shot.
“Plenty of people want to take advantage of the ability to get that third dose,” Stryker said.
“We’re back up to about 30 or 40 phone calls a day,” he said, reminiscent of months ago when people wanted to get the first vaccination. Some are scheduling appointments – walk-ins are welcome too – and some are getting information, checking to see if they qualify, so they can schedule later. And the pharmacy is still administering the first and second doses of the vaccinations.
Stryker has staffed extra pharmacists and extra staff in the store “so we can handle just about any volume of appointments that
people want to make. I’ll make adjustments as we go. If we have to stay open till midnight to take care of the local patients then we’ll stay open till midnight. The whole point is to get to everybody in the area that wants to be done.”
“It’s nice to be able to take care of the neighborhood again,” Stryker said.
But is it a booster shot or a third dose?
“There are really two kinds of third doses and it makes it very confusing,” Stryker said.
Many media outlets, politicians and even medical professionals use the terms interchangeably. In August the Food and Drug Administration and the CDC approved a third dose of both the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines for immunocompromised people. Those doses are considered a continuation of the vaccination process to help boost the immune response in that population. On the other hand, booster shots are generally considered to be the extra dose given after a primary course of vaccinations when immunity may be waning. Whatever you choose to call it, Tim Romig of Shrewsbury was glad to get a third shot at his residence facility The Brandywine at the Sycamore, having received his second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in February.
He said he was not at all hesitant about getting the booster or third dose, although a sore arm kept him from playing golf the next day. “I would have not been happy playing golf with a sore shoulder,” he said.
For those still questioning whether or not to get the COVID vaccination, Joseph Reichman, M.D., chief medical officer at Riverview Medical Center, has some sage advice based on his medical experience.
“There are a couple of things that we know for certain,” he said. “We know for certain that the COVID vaccine is very effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths, and to some degree, preventing getting COVID.”
He noted the Delta variant is very contagious, but the benefit of the vaccine is that it provides “protection from getting very, very ill and getting hospitalized and dying,” Reichman said.
“The protection decreases over time, so the booster is particularly important in the elderly and the immunocompromised, to maintain their protection from the Delta variant and from other variants as well,” he said Now the CDC’s focus is on analyzing the need for a booster vaccine for those who received the Moderna shot and also approving the vaccine for children under 12, which Reichman agrees is important.
“The faster we can move through the pandemic, the better off we’re all going to be,” he said. “I’ve watched colleagues die from COVID when we didn’t have the vaccine.”
“You know, for me, I’ve never heard anybody on their deathbed from COVID say, ‘Wait, I’m glad I didn’t get vaccinated.’ ”
There are over 1,600 vaccination sites across New Jersey. For more information visit covid19.nj.gov/ finder or call 855-568-0545.
The article originally appeared in the September 30 – October 6, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
