NYC Is 'Ready To Go' With COVID Booster Shots, Officials Say

NEW YORK, NY — New York City is fully prepared to start giving out third coronavirus vaccine doses when the federal government announces they are needed, which is expected as early as this week, according to health officials.

Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said Tuesday that the same infrastructure set up to distribute coronavirus vaccines earlier this year will be used to give out booster doses, which the Biden administration is expected to recommend for most Americans.

The additional shots, which have already started for immunocompromised New Yorkers, could start as early as September, Chokshi said.

"We have been preparing fo the possibility that booster doses will be recommended," Chokshi said. "Our understanding is that the timeline that we should expect for New Yorkers to actually get administered booster doses is no earlier than sometime in September, but we will be ready for that eventuality."

U.S. health experts are expected to recommend the COVID-19 booster shots for all Americans sometime this week. The boosters will be recommended for eight months after the second dose of the vaccine, according to AP News.

The third dose would be administered only once they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Full approval of the Pfizer shot, which is now being dispensed under an emergency authorization, is expected in the coming weeks.

The booster has already been recommended for Americans with weakened immune systems, including cancer patients, organ transplant recipients and those with other illnesses.

More information for those groups about getting a third dose in New York City can be found here.