Both Moderna and Pfizer are offering the new omicron booster. However, they do have different age restrictions. Moderna is only available to those 18 and older, while Pfizer can be given to those who are 12 and older. Doctors say the side effects are similar to what a person would experience with the original vaccine. For example, soreness at the site of the injection, fatigue, headache, and chills.

Ohio Northern University is now offering the Pfizer booster shot. The booster shots are available at the HealthWise Pharmacy on ONU's campus and their mobile clinic.

Allen County continues to meet the CDC definition of a high transmission community. With only around 37 percent of the population being vaccinated against COVID-19, the county’s greatest concern is for those who are not. Although the mask mandate ended in the state, a mask advisory has come back to Allen county to help slow down or stop the spread of COVID and its variants. The health department says that the guidelines will be ever-changing as new information continues to develop. 

With a new variant of COVID-19 starting to infect more and more people every day, booster shots of the vaccination has been a topic of discussion with health experts. 

The incentives to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot are still rolling out, but this time with the opportunity to earn $100. Ohioans that get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine between now and September 15th could receive a $100 Visa gift card in an initiative called "Vax on the Spot". Requirements include being a Medicaid or MyCare member, and age 18 or older. Pharmacies and community organizations are partnering with the program to provide vaccine clinics. There will be one at Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in Lima on Wednesday. The Chief Medical Officer for Paramount Health Care, Dr. Dee Ann Bialecki-Haase, says low vaccination rates in Ohio Medicaid members compared to the general population prompted this idea.

The CDC says that since April 2021, there have been more than a thousand reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) in the United States of cases of inflammation of the heart, called myocarditis and pericarditis. The reported cases occur after receiving a mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination (such as Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna).

The Food and Drug Administration approved the distribution of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents ages 12 to 15. Pfizer was selected due to them applying for emergency authorization, and for them being the most far into clinical trials. While the clinic will offer the Pfizer vaccine to ages 12 to 15, anyone who has not received their vaccine is still welcome to come to the clinic to receive their first dose.

In an interview with Your News Now, Dr. Martin explained that side effects from the second shot of the vaccine, also called the booster shot, is expected to come with some side effects in a small percentage of people.

With unfamiliar variants of the COVID-19 virus making their rounds, some wonder if the vaccine being rolled out will be effective enough. New strains of the Coronavirus have been detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil in recent weeks, raising concern. However, current COVID vaccine development may be able to keep up with the latest mutations.

The company's vaccine branch, Janssen, has tested doses in the United States, Latin America, and South Africa. The U.S. saw the highest effectiveness at 72%, but it protected from severe disease that could end in a hospital by up to 85%. Dr. Steve Martin, the Dean of Ohio Northern University's Raabe College of Pharmacy says a single-shot vaccine could completely change the course of the medicine's distribution.