In Plymouth, COVID is not going away—and it’s going to be around for a long time, just like the flu.
This, according to Barry Potvin, Plymouth’s Board of Health Chairman. But there is a new vaccine available, released just last month, that’s more effective than the one previously available.
Bobbi Clark has more:
Board of Health Chairman Barry Potvin says the previous vaccine…
“…that was available about a year ago was called the bivalent vaccine. That one is no longer available—no longer considered useful because it was made of a different variant of the virus.”
But, there is a newer vaccine….
“…that was made available early in September that was specifically designed to be more effective against the current variant.”
Chairman Potvin says that health authorities including the CDC, or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health are advising that…
“…everyone over the age of six months receive the newest vaccine—and they should receive it, probably this month. They should also get the flu vaccine, but you don’t have to get them together. It’s really important, especially for people who are 65 or over, and people that have pre-existing conditions.”
And what is the cost?
“The vaccination, at least through the end of this calendar year, is still
free. It’s always been free because now it’s covered by insurance coverage. If you don’t have insurance coverage, until the end of the year the Federal government is going to cover the cost of it, I believe.”
The vaccine is available at pharmacies and through your primary care physician. For free home test kits, go to www.covid.gov/tests.
