View Larger Image UAMS will offer a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine to existing patients who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.
UAMS will offer a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine to existing patients who are moderately or severely immunocompromised. Image by Bryan Clifton

UAMS to Offer Third Dose of COVID Vaccine To Moderately, Severely Immunocompromised Patients

By Yavonda Chase

| LITTLE ROCK — Starting Monday, Aug. 16, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will offer a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to its moderately and severely immunocompromised patients.

Appointments are required.

Under guidelines issued by the Federal Drug Administration, only patients who received the two-shot Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and who meet the definition of moderately or severely immunocompromised are eligible for a third dose. The third dose should be the same vaccine the patient received earlier.

UAMS patients eligible for a COVID booster include:

  • Those in active treatment for solid tumor and hematologic malignancies
  • Transplant patients who are taking immunosuppressive therapy
  • Those who have received CAR-T cell therapy or a stem cell transplant (within two years of transplantation or still taking immunosuppressive therapy)
  • Those with advanced or untreated HIV infection
  • Those undergoing active treatment with high-dose corticosteroids and other pharmaceuticals that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory

Existing UAMS patients should contact their physician to see if they are eligible for a booster and to schedule an appointment.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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