Temple University will begin offering booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to eligible students, faculty and staff members on Nov. 4 by appointment only in room G002 of the Paley Building, wrote Mark Denys, director of student health services, in an email on Friday night.
Adults are eligible to get a booster shot if they received their last dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago and either have an underlying medical condition, work in a high-risk setting, live in a long-term care facility or are at least 65 years old, according to the email.
“The science shows that booster shots help further boost immunity against the virus, so our position with those is the same,” wrote Stephen Orbanek, a university spokesperson, in a statement to The Temple News.
Eligible students, faculty and staff can schedule appointments to receive a booster shot through Temple’s Patient Health Portal, according to the email.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended booster doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on Oct. 21 after the boosters received emergency use authorization from the United States Food and Drug Administration on Sept. 22 and Oct. 20 respectively. People who are eligible to receive a booster dose may receive one from a different provider than their original vaccine series, according to the CDC’s website.
The two-dose Pfizer vaccine received full FDA approval for people 16 and older on Aug. 23 after being granted emergency use authorization since December 2020, according to the FDA website.
Temple held a six-week vaccine clinic from late March to early May where they administered the Pfizer vaccine to eligible students, employees and local residents, The Temple News reported.
The university held an additional vaccine clinic on June 2 to administer the Pfizer vaccine to Temple students, faculty and staff, The Temple News reported. Temple also held a pop-up vaccine clinic at Temple Fest for unvaccinated students and employees on Aug. 21, Orbanek wrote in a media advisory.
People who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine may also receive a booster shot at least two months after receiving their first dose, according to the FDA website. The announcement did not state if Temple has plans to administer the J&J or Moderna booster doses.
“Since COVID-19 vaccines became readily available, Temple’s position has been that everyone who can receive the vaccine should do just that,” Orbanek wrote. “The vaccines are the best defense in keeping our students, faculty, staff and North Philadelphia neighbors safe, and we’re thrilled to have just under 96 percent of the entire Temple community fully vaccinated.”
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