Booster shots for COVID-19 are planned. 

Clatsop County plans to hold mass vaccination events once federal authorities approve booster shots for people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine.

The county’s tentative plan was to open the clinics later this month, but “I would not be surprised if the launch date is delayed a little bit,” Margo Lalich, the interim public health director, said.

The Biden administration set a Sept. 20 deadline to begin making boosters available, but experts at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said the agencies may not have the information by then to determine when and whether the extra jab is necessary.

The booster shot discussion is happening as the more contagious delta variant circulates on the North Coast and across Oregon, leading to a spike in virus cases and hospitalizations.

The likely locations for the booster clinics will be the Clatsop County Fairgrounds and Camp Rilea Armed Forces Training Center in Warrenton. Camp Rilea is becoming a coronavirus response hub: tests, vaccinations, boosters, as well as the Public Information Call Center, will all be on site. Tom Bennett, a county spokesman, said the county is seeking volunteers for the call center and vaccination clinics.

The booster is meant to extend a vaccinated person’s ability to fight off the virus, as the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines may wane over time.

Breakthrough infections — cases of vaccinated people getting the virus — do occur but are less likely to lead to hospitalization and death.

For most people, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends a booster at least eight months after receiving the second shot of Pfizer or Moderna or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

People with weak immune systems — such as those severely infected with HIV or being treated for cancer — can get the booster 28 days after a shot. They often need an extra dose to achieve the normal immunity that others get from one or two doses.

Rebecca Coplin, the interim chief executive of Providence Seaside Hospital, said in an email: “While the CDC only recommends that people with moderately to severely compromised immune systems receive an additional dose, we encourage anyone who is eligible to do so.”

The boosters will be given in the same order of priority as were the first vaccinations: emergency responders and health care workers, then senior citizens and finally the wider population, the county said.

Bennett said the Public Health Department hopes it can inform people who got their vaccinations earlier this year at a county-run clinic when they are due for a booster.

People will not be able to get their first vaccine at booster clinics, he said.

Coplin added: “For everyone, our best defense in the fight against COVID is to get the COVID vaccines you are eligible for, continue to wear masks indoors, outdoors when physical distancing isn’t possible, and to keep your hands clean.”