NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Virginia Department of Health is asking people who are fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, not to seek additional booster doses at the new Community Vaccine Clinic in Newport News.
The clinic, launched Tuesday at 13785 Warwick Boulevard, has all three vaccines available, with the capacity to administer 500 doses per day, broken down into 325 Pfizer doses, 125 Johnson & Johnson doses and 50 of the Moderna vaccine.
On the clinic's opening day, some people arrived at the facility looking for a booster dose for the Moderna vaccine, even though the FDA has not yet authorized a booster shot for that particular vaccine.
Pfizer's booster of the two-dose vaccination is the only one authorized by the FDA for people who are at least six months removed from the completion of their two doses, people who are 65 years and older, and some people 18 years old and older who have underlying medical conditions or work and live in high-risk environments.
Below is the statement from the Hampton and Peninsula Health District:
"A number of citizens came to the clinic today expecting to receive a Moderna booster. All three vaccines are available but only Pfizer is available for boosters."
On the first day, clinic officials told 13News Now that roughly 50 people came to the clinic.
Many had come for a third Pfizer booster shot, like Eunice Manning, who was spared a trip from the Peninsula to the Southside after hearing about the new clinic, saving a visit to Military Circle Mall.
“Going over there, you never know what to plan, and what not to plan. You never know what the traffic is going to be like, coming back once you get over there," Manning said.
Clinic officials say it's designed to accommodate roughly 20 appointments an hour. It runs six days a week, Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. until the clinic's last appointments at 7:30 p.m.