Baptist Memorial Hospital Golden Triangle offering COVID-19 booster shots for all vaccinated adults

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Wednesday, Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle started administering doses of the COVID-19 booster shot to those 18 and older.

Baptist announced their new program Monday, not long after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made its recommendation that all vaccinated adults get a booster shot.

It was December 2020 that the Mississippi State Department of Health started seeing COVID-19 cases surge to record highs throughout the state. With COVID hospitalizations climbing during November 2021, medical experts urge everyone to follow the CDC’s guidelines.

“The COVID-19 vaccines are working,” says  Baptist nursing analyst Nicole Pounders. “They were helping prevent severe illness from the disease, hospitalizations and death. However, that protection over time decreases.”

Pounders is in charge of the booster shot program at Baptist and says things have been going well during their first week offering it to all adults. She says they administered about 20 on Wednesday and have close to 30 scheduled the rest of the week.

“Just one shot takes us about 15 minutes to get you through,” she says. “We have to observe you for a little while and then we’ll get you back home.”

According to the hospital, Baptist currently has about 300 doses of the Moderna booster and over 1,000 doses of the Pfizer. With the holiday season creating more gatherings and causing more people to travel, Pounders says getting the booster is just as important as those initial sets of shots.

“Once your protection decreases to a point where you know it’s not covering those mild to moderate symptoms, that means that you can pass it to your family or your loved ones or friends,” she says.

Pounders says that so far, most of their patients have been those over the age of 65. But she says anyone who has been fully vaccinated within the last six months should sign up.

“Especially with the variants that we see…go ahead and get your vaccine (booster) so we can decrease the chances and the potential of more variants coming, so we can fight this virus the best we can,” she says.

Those who wish to schedule an appointment with Baptist can call 662-244-2001. Appointments for booster shots are available Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Proof of vaccination is required.