ATLANTA — The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention has updated its guidance regarding COVID booster vaccines for certain immunocompromised groups.
The updated guidance suggests a fourth dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine three months after the third dose. Prior guidance suggested waiting until five months after a third dose.
Getting a fourth dose of the vaccine is a step Jez de Wolff has already taken. She received it back in early February after her doctor suggested she do so.
"I had just gone in for a checkup to get my blood work done to see how I'm progressing, and they were like, Oh yeah, you need to go", she told 11Alive's Karys Belger.
De Wolff was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2018. After extensive treatments, including chemotherapy that weakened her immune system, she was allowed to leave her quarantine just as the pandemic started.
Since then, she said she's taken a lot of precautions because the consequences of getting sick are amplified for her.
"I'm still very much wearing a mask indoors, everywhere I go. We're not eating at restaurants, that sort of thing. If I get COVID, I could be very, very ill and be in the hospital," De Wolff explained.
Cases like hers are part of the reason the CDC changed its guidance. The organization also cited concerns over the waning efficacy of the third dose of the vaccine over time.
In addition to the recommendations for mRNA vaccines, the CDC has updated its guidance for those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as well.
A second dose is recommended after 28 days followed by a dose of one of the mRNA vaccines for a total of three shots.
Yet even with the change in guidelines, De Wolf said she will follow her doctor's advice and continue to get additional shots when they're recommended.
"These boosters have been easy peasy and I'm just happily going into the Publix and getting the shot and going about my business. And, it's totally fine. I will do it for as long as I have to," she concluded.