Local pharmacies begin administering second booster shot to eligible people

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58)-- Some people can now get a second COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.

The Centers for Disease Control and Protection and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an extra dose for people over 50-years-old or those who are immunocompromised.

M. Quincy Johnson got his second booster shot at Hayat Pharmacy on Wednesday, March 30.

"Whether to take it or not is people's choice, but my choice is to take it, because I feel it is best for me," Johnson said. 

Hayat Pharmacy owner Dr. Hashim Zaibak said the newly approved second booster offers extra protection.

"The sooner you get your booster, the faster it works," Zaibak said.

Those who are eligible are recommended to get another booster four months after their last. For some people, this is their fourth or fifth shot.

"It is fatiguing to have to get these shots, but at the same time, getting COVID is going to have more dire consequences," Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences at University of Wisconsin-Madison Ajay Sethi said. 

Zaibak and Sethi predict the vaccine is something people will need every year.

"I think that it might become an annual thing, and Dr. (Anthony) Fauci actually mentioned that this might become an annual shot, just like the flu shot," Zaibak said.

Even though cases are the lowest they've been in awhile, doctors say it's better to get a booster before it's too late.

"This next booster is really in preparation of the rise in cases we are going to see at some point, whether that's this summer due to the BA.2 subvariant or in the fall when we expect a winter surge in general," Sethi said. 

Some pharmacies and clinics require appointments for COVID-19 vaccines.