Oklahoma City-County Health Department providing third COVID-19 vaccine to immunocompromised patients

A health worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 to inoculate a minor at a vaccination center in Asuncion, on July 23, 2021. – Paraguay started to inoculate children and teenagers from 12 to 17 years-old with underlying diseases. (Photo by NORBERTO DUARTE/AFP via Getty Images)

by: K. Querry-Thompson/KFOR

Posted: Aug 16, 2021 / 10:46 AM CDT

Updated: Aug 16, 2021 / 10:47 AM CDT

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Health officials in Oklahoma City say patients who are immunocompromised can now receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Recently, the CDC and the FDA announced support for an extra COVID-19 vaccine dose for people with severely weakened immune systems.

The CDC cites emerging data that shows fully vaccinated immunocompromised people have accounted for an outsized percentage of breakthrough cases (40-44%) and are more vulnerable to serious, prolonged illness.

Immunocompromised people are about 3 percent of the U.S. adult population, according to the CDC, and include recipients of organ or stem cell transplants, people suffering from advanced HIV infections, people being treated for cancer, people who have to take medicine that weakens the immune system, and others. A full list of conditions can be found on CDC’s website.

Now, the Oklahoma City-County Health Department says they are administering third COVID-19 vaccine doses to patients who are immunocompromised.

Patients are encouraged to speak to their doctor first before receiving a third dose of the vaccine.

Third doses are only given to people who received a two-dose vaccine and are not approved for people who received the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine.

Patients who are seeking a third dose from the health department will be required to legally attest to having one of the following conditions:

Having undergone solid organ transplantation
Receiving active cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood
Received a stem cell transplant within the last two years or are taking medicine to suppress the immune system
Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (such as DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
Advanced or untreated HIV infection
Active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that may suppress your immune response.