COVID-19 Vaccines – West Palm Beach VA Medical Center

COVID-19 vaccines and boosters

VA supplies COVID-19 vaccines, as cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The offer varies by establishment. Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines in VA.

VA is now offering Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine boosters to veterans, spouses and caregivers who already received a full set of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at least six months ago. Not all VA facilities offer Pfizer recalls. Learn more about COVID-19 booster shots in Virginia.

You can also receive your Pfizer booster outside of VA. You can locate a vaccine site at https://www.vaccines.gov/search/. Make sure to take your CDC COVID-19 vaccination record when you go!

We continue to encourage all eligible people to get vaccinated.

West Palm Beach VA Health System COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory

Currently, we are first offering COVID-19 vaccines to these 2 groups when the veteran is eligible based on the VA and CDC risk criteria:

These groups are now also eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine because the supply allows:

• All veterans
• All surviving spouses of veterans
• All caregivers of veterans. For COVID-19 vaccine eligibility, we define a caregiver as a family member or friend who provides care to a veteran. Caregivers can help a Veteran with personal needs such as feeding, bathing, or dressing. They can also help a veteran with tasks like shopping or transportation.
• All beneficiaries of the services of the health and civil medicine program of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA)

To note: If you have received a vaccine, such as the flu or shingles vaccine, you will need to wait 14 days from the date of this vaccination before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Additional information regarding COVID-19 vaccination clinics can be found below (check this page periodically for updates):

COVID-19 Third Dose

The VHA follows CDC guidelines in recommending that certain people with moderate or severe immunosuppression receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine if they have already received primary treatment from Pfizer or Moderna.

Our clinics will contact our veterans who meet the criteria defined by the CDC to order the 3rd dose and make an appointment at the COVID vaccine clinic.

If it is recommended for a third dose, it is important to receive the same vaccine previously administered. If you have received Pfizer before, you should be given Pfizer for your third dose. If you have already received Moderna, you should be given Moderna for your third dose.

At this time, people who have received the single dose Jansen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine SHOULD NOT receive additional doses of Pfizer or Moderna.

Moderately and severely immunocompromised patients include:

• Active treatment of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies
• Receiving a solid organ transplant and taking immunosuppressive therapy
• Receiving a CAR-T cell transplant or hematopoietic stem cell transplant (within 2 years of transplantation or taking immunosuppressive therapy)
• Moderate or severe primary immune deficiency (eg, DiGeorge, Wiskott-Aldrich syndromes)
• Advanced or untreated HIV infection
• Active treatment with high dose corticosteroids (i.e.> 20 mg prednisone or equivalent per day), alkylating agents, antimetabolites, transplant-related immunosuppressive drugs, anticancer chemotherapeutic agents classified as severely immunosuppressive , anti-TNFs and other immunosuppressive or immunomodulating biological agents

Locations and schedule of COVID-19 vaccination clinics

To schedule an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine, please call (561) 422-5220.

Updated August 26, 2021

Thank you for your patience and for trusting VA with your healthcare needs!