Shelby Kroona, Hamilton County Public Health administrator, gave an update on the COVID-19 vaccine situation in Hamilton County TUesday morning during the Board of Supervisors meeting at the courthouse.

Kroona told the supervisors that Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine had gained full approval by the Food and Drug Administration on Monday, for people aged 16 and older.

“At the health department, we currently do not have the Pfizer vaccine, but Thrifty White Pharmacy and Hy-Vee Pharmacy have an adequate supply,” she said. “Plus it’s offered at every Walmart, Target and any other pharmacy across the state.”

Kroona said her department continues to see more positive COVID tests. Her department also continues to contact trace cases in the county.

“There’s a misnomer out there that there is no contact tracing being done. The board of health in Hamilton County did vote to have my staff and myself continue to contact trace individuals,” she said.

She admitted that the contact tracing process has become much more difficult.

“We spend a lot of time talking about households and not necessarily who outside of their house they might have infected. Nobody is willing to share what events they have been to, so we spend most of our time talking about the individual household,” she said.

The difference between the COVID-19 seen at the beginning of the pandemic and the Delta variant is how much more contagious the variant is.

“Research has discovered that at the beginning of the epidemic, one person who tested positive infected two people,” she said. “With the Delta variant that we’re seeing in Hamilton County and across the state, one person infects six people. And then those six each infect six others. You can see how this explodes exponentially.”

Kroona also talked about a booster dose for those who are immunocompromised. The FDA approved a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for those who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

“The issue is, many people do not understand what severely immunocompromised means. The CDC did issue some guidance. This is for people who are having active cancer treatments, if they have a tumor or cancers of the blood. If they received an organ transplant or are taking medication to suppress the immune system around organ transplantation,” she said. “If you received a stem cell transplant, have advanced or untreated HIV or are in active treatment with high dose corticosteroids.”

She said the CDC recommends that those patients discuss the third dose with their primary physician.

“That third dose should be generated by your physician,” she said. The health department will also be able to give the Moderna third dose, but only after they find out if the patient has had the conversation with their doctor.

Kroona said there is no guidance yet on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as to whether an additional dose will be needed.

“And you cannot switch between the J&J and mrna vaccines,” she said. “They will need to wait for additional guidance from the CDC.”

Last week, President Biden announced that booster doses would be available to the general public beginning in late September.

“After Sept. 20, anyone who received a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine will be eligible to receive a booster dose. This will be personal preference and personal choice,” she said. “The boosters should be delivered 8 months after the second dose.”

The first boosters will go to those who received their second doses around the first part of 2021 — mainly healthcare and essential workers, and some of the 65 and older population, she explained.

“(The Health Department) is gearing up for the booster shots, trying to put some plans in place at this point,” she said.