De Blasio Gets COVID-19 Vaccine Booster, Mixes And Matches Doses

New York City NY

25 October, 2021

12:23 PM

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NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio joined the 200,000 New York City dwellers who've so far rolled up their sleeves for a coronavirus vaccine booster shot. But de Blasio did so in a way only recently given the green light by federal health officials — he "mixed and matched" vaccines. The mayor first received one dose of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine. He then topped it off Monday with a shot of Moderna's vaccine. "I'm putting my shoulder where my mouth is," he said, before acknowledging: "Wait a minute, that doesn't make sense." Roughly 227,000 booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in New York City so far, according to data. Those numbers likely will swell after CDC Director Rochelle Walensky allowed booster shots of Moderna's and Johnson & Johnson's vaccines last week. Boosters for the Pfizer vaccine had already been approved. Moderna and Pfizer recipients who are people 65 and older, 18- to 64-year-olds with underlying health conditions and workers in high-risk settings can receive boosters so long as they're six months after their last doses, according to the guidance. All Johnson & Johnson recipients are eligible for a booster. And Walensky also allowed eligible recipients to do as de Blasio did — get a booster shot of any vaccine regardless of what they received for their last dose. City-run vaccination sites since last week have administered booster doses to all eligible recipients. Dave Chokshi, the city's health commissioner, said even more at-risk New Yorkers can get an added layer of protection. He gave de Blasio his booster. "This guy is a really, really very subtle shot giver," de Blasio said.