Dear Colleagues,
I write to convey two important updates. First, all UCSF employees and learners are eligible and strongly encouraged to receive a COVID-19 booster shot. Second, beginning today, the UCSF daily health screener is being updated to better enforce the use of this important tool.
Booster Shots
As the winter holidays approach and we gather with family and friends indoors, I highly recommend you get a COVID-19 booster shot. This is in line with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), which this week broadened eligibility for boosters to all adults over 18 years.
At UCSF, we are currently seeing higher rates of COVID-19 infection among employees and learners with more than six months since their second vaccine dose. Boosters can reduce the effects of waning immunity by up to 90 percent. Due to the urgency for delivering boosters in time to reduce a possible second winter COVID-19 surge, please get your booster as soon as possible.
To get a booster, you must have received your second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago. If you received the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine, you should get a booster at least two months after your shot. You can mix and match whatever brand of vaccine you prefer for your booster shot.
Pfizer and Moderna booster shots are widely available through vaccination clinics, health care providers, and neighborhood pharmacies. Californians can visit the My Turn website or call (833) 422-4255 to make an appointment or find a nearby vaccine clinic. If you get a booster shot at a location outside UCSF, please upload a copy of that...
Dear UCSF Community,
Beginning tomorrow, Nov. 5, 2021, UCSF, including Benioff Children’s Hospitals, will begin offering Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to children ages 5 to 11, after receiving approval and guidance from federal and state public health authorities. You can find information about how to get vaccines for children here. https://www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/education/covid-19-vaccine
The expansion of vaccination against COVID-19 to children is a major step forward in the fight against this pandemic. I know that parents and caregivers have been waiting for this moment and understandably have questions about the vaccines.
The data about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11 years were presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over the past week and look promising.
Similar to study findings in adult vaccine trials, vaccination was nearly 91 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 among children aged 5 to 11 years, even during a period of Delta variant circulation. The vaccine was well tolerated and there were no safety signals identified among the more than 3,000 children who received the vaccine. The FDA decided that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine met safety and efficacy standards for emergency use authorization.
The CDC now recommends everyone ages 5 and older get a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect against COVID-19. Although children are at a lower risk of becoming severely ill with COVID-19 compared...