Updated COVID Vaccine Will Be Available In LA County By Next Week

Updated COVID shots will be “widely available” in Los Angeles County by the middle of next week, public health officials said Thursday.

“There will be a gradual rollout to get vaccines on the ground, and it will take some time to get scheduling systems set up," said Janina Morrison, the county's chief physician of clinical services for public health. “Pharmacies and health care providers will be receiving orders directly from the manufacturers and will let their patients and customers know about availability.”

L.A. County health officials are urging people to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Cases and hospitalizations are continuing to creep up nationally and the threat of other respiratory viruses, including flu and RSV, loom this fall. For the first time, vaccines are available against all three.

“We know lots and lots of people who are vaccinated and then got infected,” said L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. “That doesn’t change our reality that both that natural immunity you get from being infected and the vaccines themselves, that protection is waning over time. Study after study after study says that it wanes over time. We need to get ourselves boosted, we can’t afford to take the risk of getting infected.”

Ferrer said local cases have “somewhat plateaued,” but are still relatively high, having doubled in the past month.

“We’re not in a place where there are alarming increases in cases or wastewater testing,” she said.

Manufacturers say the tweaked mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer are effective against EG.5, the COVID strain that is currently dominant in the United States, as well as other emerging variants.

It is completely safe for people to get a flu shot and a COVID shot on the same day, usually one in each arm, according to Ferrer.

“Be prepared for an earlier than usual flu season,” she said. “The east and south are seeing a spike, so go ahead and make your flu shot appointment so you’re prepared.”

Hospitalizations decreased a small amount in L.A. County, but it’s not clear if that trend will hold.

Will insurance cover the COVID shot?

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans are covering the full cost of vaccines, without co-pays. So insured people will be able to get the updated COVID vaccine at their doctor’s offices or pharmacies at no cost. The same applies to Medicare beneficiaries.

On Oct. 1, the COVID vaccine will be covered for everyone on Medicaid — Medi-Cal in California — based on a law passed last year in Congress. For people who are uninsured or underinsured, the Biden administration launched the Bridge Access Program, which will make the vaccine available this season at no cost.

The new government program allows the CDC to purchase and distribute COVID vaccines and allocate them through its network of state and local health departments. Vaccines for federally qualified health centers as well as certain pharmacy chains will be supported through both government and manufacturer-supplied resources.

But the Bridge Access Program is temporary. According to the CDC’s website, no-cost vaccines will be available until the end of 2024.

Bridge Access providers will be added this week to the Vaccines.gov website, which can help people find locations to get the free vaccines.

Children from low-income families will be able to get free vaccines through the CDC’s Vaccines for Children program.

When will the updated COVID shot be available?

This is the first time COVID shots will be provided through the commercial market. In order to get it covered by your health insurance, you must stay in-network. If you get the shot from a provider out of your insurance network, there may be a cost.

Kaiser Permenente, the largest insurer in the state, told LAist that the “initial supply of the updated vaccines may be limited” and that it would primarily administer the Pfizer vaccine when it’s available.

“Kaiser Permanente will begin administering the updated COVID vaccines according to the CDC’s clinical guidance as soon as we have updated our systems and processes to reflect that guidance and when supply becomes available,” the company said.

Some CVS and Walgreens pharmacies are already offering the shots, and both company’s websites say more locations and vaccine appointments will be added as inventory increases.

For young children 6 months to 6 years old, it’s best to get them vaccinated at their pediatrician’s office. Many chain pharmacies won’t vaccinate young children, so pay attention when you’re making appointments to the age restrictions.