Kinney Drugs offers COVID-19 bivalent vaccine appointments

Kinney Drugs, a 100% employee-owned leading pharmacy chain in New York and Vermont, has opened bivalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccination appointments for individuals who:

• Are age 65+ (4+ months after their first bivalent dose); or
• Are moderately or severely immunocompromised (2+ months after their first bivalent dose); or
• Have only received one monovalent dose; or
• Have never been vaccinated against COVID-19.

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Kinney Drugs has taken this action in response to the FDA’s recently amended Emergency Use Authorizations of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent mRNA vaccines, which protect against both the original and the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 strains. These vaccines will now be used for all doses administered to eligible individuals listed above. The initial monovalent mRNA vaccines are no longer authorized in the United States. The company noted that the FDA intends to make decisions about future vaccination after receiving recommendations on the fall strain composition in June.

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“As a pharmacist and president of Kinney Drugs, I am glad that the FDA has simplified the vaccination process,” said John Marraffa, president of Kinney Drugs. “Our Kinney pharmacists remain committed and determined to protect our communities against COVID-19.”

Eligible individuals may schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at Kinney Drugs here.