KTLA

San Francisco health officials allow Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine recipients to get 3rd shot

In this April 8, 2021 file photo, the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is seen at a pop up vaccination site in the Staten Island borough of New York. (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)

San Francisco health officials are allowing people who originally got the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to get a second booster shot — which would give them access to the same number of doses currently available to recipients of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.

The allowance of a potential third dose to J&J recipients in San Francisco goes beyond the guidance outlined by the federal government. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says those who got J&J — which is formulated as a single-shot vaccine — are eligible to get one booster at least two months after their initial dose, but federal health officials have not yet made statements about further follow-up shots.

By contrast, those who are up to date on Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna — collectively known as mRNA vaccinations — could already have received three shots.

“We are now offering what we’re calling a supplemental dose to J&J recipients,” Dr. Grant Colfax, the San Francisco health director, told health commissioners Tuesday.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.