RiverStone Health offers free COVID-19 boosters 65+ older

In this Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, file photo, a patient receives an influenza vaccine in Mesquite, Texas. Amid all the focus on COVID-19 vaccinations, U.S. health experts have another plea: Don’t skip your flu shot. With U.S. schools and businesses reopened, international travel resuming and far less masking this fall, flu is likely to make a comeback. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

by: Mary Beth Dickson

Posted: Apr 26, 2023 / 02:29 PM MDT

Updated: Apr 26, 2023 / 02:29 PM MDT

People age 65 and older now have the option of getting their second bivalent COVID-19 vaccine at no charge from RiverStone Health.

“The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have approved a second dose of the newest COVID-19 vaccine for people age 65 and older whose first dose of this bivalent vaccine was received at least four months ago. Bivalent means that the vaccine contains protection against the original COVID-19 virus strain along with protection against newer Omicron variants,” according to RiverStone Health.

COVID-19 antigen home tests are photographed in New York on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. When the COVID-19 public health emergency ends in the U.S. in May 2023, you'll still have access to a multitude of tests but with one big difference: who pays for them. For the first time, you may have to pick up some or all of the costs, depending on your insurance coverage and whether the tests are done at home or in a doctor's office. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison) — COVID-19 antigen home tests

Additional vaccine doses also are available now to adults of any age whose immune systems are not functioning normally.

For an appointment, please call 406-247-3382.

This vaccine may also be available at your local pharmacy or medical clinic. It is available to RiverStone Health Clinic patients by appointment at all of our locations.

“These bivalent vaccines, in wide use since September 2022, provide protection against serious or fatal illness from COVID-19 virus strains that continue to circulate in Yellowstone County.
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services reports that since Jan. 1, 2023, more than 1,800 Yellowstone County residents have been ill with COVID-19 and 14 have died from related illness” stated RiverStone Health.