COVID-19 booster shots have recently been approved for people 18 and older who had their second COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago. This new opportunity is one that college students are beginning to seek out. 

“I do see college students, but I see mostly older aged folks coming in now,” said Walgreens Pharmacy manager Janel Swanson. Many students have run into one issue when looking to schedule a booster shot appointment: the pharmacies are already booked out. “Our system only lets us go out for two weeks, so every day we open one more day and are already booked up for that new day that we just added,” she said. Swanson advises students traveling home for winter break soon to get their booster shots as quickly as possible, rather than waiting until they return home if they have the chance to.   

Many St. Lawrence students are about to leave for winter break, and the university’s Director of Health Services Erin Casey recommends students to get their boosters beforehand.  “The sooner the better to get the booster if students are six months out,” Casey said. “You can also get your flu shot while you’re there,” she said. “We need to make sure we are thinking about the flu as well.” 

The university held clinics in the Spring of 2021 for students and staff to receive their COVID-19 vaccines. Casey hopes that the same approach may be possible soon for booster shots as well. “They are putting their resources to the five to 11 age group now and going around to various schools, so we aren’t able to offer a clinic just yet,” she said.  

“I understand waiting until after finals because the booster doesn’t come without side effects,” Casey said. “But the sooner the better for the booster, since it will help decrease the spread to family and friends, and other students will be around during the break.” 

The COVID-19 booster shot amplifies the protection of the initial COVID-19 vaccine. “A booster gives you another layer of protection against the severity of the illness,” said Global Studies professor Dr. Madeleine Wong. When considering post-winter break return, Wong believes there needs to be mandatory testing for students, faculty and staff. “This sort of stop-start pattern that occurred in the fall is really disruptive, both for students’ experiences on campus and for teaching and learning,” Wong said. 

“There should be a strong university-wide policy and statement that applies to the whole campus so that different messages for one area do not compromise another,” she said. “We need to all be on the same page so we know how to navigate it,” she added. Wong emphasized that we need to learn from the lessons that didn’t work in the fall and apply them in the spring. 

“What we’ve seen is that the booster is powering us back up to protect ourselves,” said Public Health professor Dr. Ernesto Moralez. “Following the data, from what I have seen, there seems to be a loss of efficacy over time for those of us who have gotten one or two shots,” he said. “It’s not the novel process to how we deal with vaccines, so we need to remember that this doesn’t mean the vaccines they distributed aren’t as good, it is just standard procedure,” he said. 

Moralez believes that the main goal is to lower hospitalization rates, severity of disease, and unnecessary death. “The goal is to minimize the burden on our resources,” he said. 

“We haven’t seen any complications with the booster so far, but there are always going to be cases where it affects someone differently,” Moralez said. Some side effects from the booster shot have included fatigue and symptoms similar to the flu. “Overall, it seems there’s been a pretty good bounce back,” he said. Ultimately, “the more protected you are, the sooner we might be able to get this under control,” Moralez said.