Bivalent COVID Booster Clinics Head To 6 WA College Campuses

WASHINGTON — The Washington State Department of Health is partnering with several colleges and universities to bring pop-up COVID-19 vaccination and booster clinics to campuses starting later this month and running through October.

The clinics will run through the DOH's "Care-A-Van" program and "Power of Providers" (POP) initiative, offering Washingtonians an easy way to get up to date before heading into the fall and winter. While the events are tailored to students and faculty, all eligible residents are invited to book an appointment or drop by to get their initial vaccination series or reformulated omicron-targeting boosters.

The new boosters are "bivalent," utilizing many of the vaccine components to combat the original virus and making slight changes to the spike protein to target the contagious BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants.

Public health leaders hope providing more effective boosters and making them widely available will help reduce the chance of another significant COVID-19 wave during the colder months, while more people are indoors and other seasonal respiratory viruses are circulating.

Here are the dates for the upcoming clinics on college campuses:

• Sept. 23, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m.: Central Washington University, Ellensburg
• Sept. 23, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.: Eastern Washington University, Cheney
• Oct. 3, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.: University of Washington, Seattle Campus
• Oct. 4, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.: University of Washington, Tacoma Campus
• Oct. 5, 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.: University of Washington, Bothell Campus
• Oct. 6, 2 p.m.- 6 p.m.: Washington State University, Vancouver
• Oct. 21, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.: Central Washington University, Ellensburg
• Advance appointments are available here.

Providers across Washington have already begun administering the new boosters, and residents can search for more appointments using the state's vaccine locator tool or checking with local pharmacies, including Bartell Drugs, Walgreens, CVS and Safeway.

Here's who can receive updated COVID-19 boosters in Washington:

• People ages 12 – 17 who have completed a primary vaccine series can receive the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent booster at least two months after their most recent dose.
• People 18 and older who have completed a primary vaccine series can receive either company’s bivalent booster at least two months after their most recent dose.
• Those ages 5 – 11 who have completed Pfizer-BioNTech’s primary vaccine series should continue to receive the company’s original monovalent booster at least 5 months after their most recent dose.
• Children ages 6 months – 4 years are currently not authorized for any COVID-19 booster doses.