Dear Friend --

Starting tomorrow, the Long Beach Health Department will begin offering COVID-19 boosters for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. This is in addition to the Pfizer booster already being administered to eligible people.

Our city has been doing a great job getting vaccinated, now with nearly 81% of our adults having received the COVID-19 vaccine. This is thanks to all of you who heard our call to get vaccinated, and did the responsible thing. Now, with these additional boosters available, we will be able to further protect our frontline workers and our other high-risk populations.

As with Pfizer boosters that have already been available, the Moderna booster will be available six months after an eligible person receives their second dose. Eligible people are:

• those 65 and older;
• those 18 to 64 years old with underlying medical conditions;
• and those ages 18 and older with high institutional or occupational risk, including healthcare workers, long-term care facility residents, first responders, teachers and daycare staff, grocery workers and workers in homeless shelters or prisons.

The Johnson & Johnson booster will be available to everyone 18 and older who has had their single dose at least two months prior.

People can get a booster with any brand of the vaccine, regardless of which vaccination they received initially. Anyone who qualifies for a booster can receive the Moderna vaccine as a half dose; a full dose of Pfizer; or a full dose of Johnson & Johnson. The timing of the booster (two months or six months) depends on the original vaccine administered (Johnson & Johnson or Pfizer/Moderna).

For more information on eligibility, where you can get your booster, and when it may be time for you to get your booster dose please visit longbeach.gov/vaxlb. 

This is another big step in our work to beat back this pandemic and keep our community healthy. Please continue to encourage friends and family members to get the vaccine if they haven't done so already. We are almost there. 

Thank you and Go Long Beach,

Mayor Robert Garcia