MyChart
COVID Vaccine News and Information (updated 10/22/21)
We continue to follow the state’s recommendations. St. Luke’s is one of many providers giving COVID-19 vaccinations in Idaho. You can find a list of vaccine providers for your area on the Idaho COVID-19 Vaccination Information site.
CDC and FDA Approve Boosters for Certain Moderna and J&J Vaccine Recipients
The CDC and FDA approved boosters after the primary series of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for certain groups. Read the CDC's announcement.
We are not currently administering Moderna or Johnson & Johnson boosters. We appreciate your patience while we ensure we are prepared to safely respond to the new CDC guidance. For now, we can ONLY offer a Pfizer booster to qualifying patients who received Pfizer's primary vaccine series. Read CDC's recommendations for specific groups.
Boosters After Initial Series Now Available for Some Pfizer Vaccine Recipients
Eligible groups include those 65 and older and those 18 and older who work in long-term care settings, have underlying medical conditions and/or work or live in high-risk settings. If you have questions about these criteria, visit CDC.gov.
Since the booster following the initial Pfizer series is not urgent, and we continue to have high demand for care and staffing challenges, those who visit our clinics without an appointment for the purpose of obtaining a Pfizer booster may experience long wait times or may need to come back another day.
You can also receive your flu vaccine in the same visit by scheduling them together through MyChart. For the best patient experience, if you already have a flu shot scheduled, please go online to cancel the flu shot appointment and reschedule a combined visit.
Updated Vaccine Recommendation for Immunocompromised Patients
Moderately to severely immunocompromised patients are now able to schedule appointments for third doses of mRNA vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer) through our myChart app. Find the CDC list of conditions included for the purposes of this recommendation here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/immuno.html.
For the best experience, we highly encourage patients to schedule through the myChart app. To access myChart or set up a new myChart account, visit St. Luke’s online.org/myChart or call 208-381-9000. If you would like to schedule a vaccine and are unable to access myChart, please call 208-381-9500.
Due to current patient volumes, there may be wait times at our clinics if you don’t have a scheduled appointment. See below for a list of clinics. While we encourage people to schedule ahead, we will continue to meet the need for walk-ins.
At this time, an additional COVID-19 vaccine dose has not been recommended by the CDC for those who have received non-mRNA vaccines (e.g., Johnson & Johnson). Though it is recommended that the third dose be the same brand as the initial series, it is not necessary if that brand is not available. For example, someone who received a Pfizer primer and booster may receive Moderna for their third dose.
St. Luke's COVID-19 Vaccine Administration Locations
For the most prompt service, we recommend pre-scheduling your vaccine through myChart or by calling St. Luke's Connect at 208-381-9500. Walk-ins are accepted at most vaccine clinic locations during normal operating hours.
Moderna
- Boise: St. Luke’s Clinic – Family Health: Boise, McMillan Rd.
- Boise: St. Luke's Clinic – Family Health: Boise, Hospitality Ln.
- Boise: St. Luke's Clinic – Family Medicine
- Boise: St. Luke’s Clinic – Idaho Family Physicians
- Boise: St. Luke's Clinic – Internal Medicine: Boise, Cloverdale Rd.
- Boise: St. Luke's Clinic – Internal Medicine: Boise, Robbins Rd. - vaccines available Fri 8 a.m.-4 p.m., please schedule an appointment
- Boise: St. Luke's Clinic – Mountain View Medical Center
- Buhl: St. Luke's Clinic – Physician Center
- Caldwell: St. Luke's Clinic – Family Medicine
- Eagle: St. Luke's Clinic – Internal Medicine: Eagle
- Fruitland: St. Luke's Clinic – Family Medicine
- Hailey: St. Luke's Clinic – Family Medicine: Hailey, Maple St.
- Jerome: St. Luke's Clinic – Jerome Family Medicine
- Ketchum: St. Luke's Clinic – Family Medicine: Ketchum
- Ketchum: St. Luke's Multispecialty Clinic: Ketchum
- Meridian: St. Luke’s Clinic – Family Health: Meridian, E. Louise Dr.
- Meridian: St. Luke's Clinic – Family Medicine and Pediatrics: Meridian
- Meridian: St. Luke's Clinic – Internal Medicine: Meridian
- Meridian: St. Luke's Clinic – Syringa Family Medicine
- Mountain Home: St. Luke's Clinic – Trinity Mountain Medical
- Nampa: St. Luke’s Clinic – Family Medicine: Nampa, Greenhurst Rd.
- Twin Falls: St. Luke’s Clinic – Internal Medicine: Twin Falls, Addison Ave.
- Twin Falls: St. Luke’s Clinic – Physician Center: Twin Falls, Addison Ave.
- Twin Falls: St. Luke's Clinic – Physician Center: Twin Falls, North College Rd.
Pfizer
- Boise: St. Luke’s Clinic – Capital City Family Medicine - vaccines available Mon-Fri 8 a.m.-5 p.m., please schedule an appointment
- Boise: St. Luke’s Clinic – Internal Medicine (for patients 18+ only)
- Hailey: St. Luke's Clinic – Family Medicine: Hailey, Aviation Dr.
- McCall: St. Luke’s Clinic – Payette Lakes Family Medicine
- Meridian: St. Luke’s Clinic – Travel Medicine and Immunizations
- Mountain Home: St. Luke's Quick Care
- Nampa: St. Luke’s Clinic – Family Medicine: Nampa, W. St. Luke's Dr.
- Twin Falls: St. Luke’s Clinic – Internal Medicine: Twin Falls, Pole Line Rd.
- Twin Falls: St. Luke’s Clinic – Physician Center: Twin Falls, Pole Line Rd.
- Twin Falls: St. Luke’s Quick Care
COVID-19 Vaccine Recommended for Pregnant Women
Protect Yourself and Your Baby
Pregnant women with COVID-19 can have severe illness and severe outcomes, including ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death.
That's why St. Luke’s OB/GYN providers recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for people who are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to get pregnant. More than 139,000 pregnant women have enrolled in the V-Safe Pregnancy Registry. Data shows there is no risk of miscarriage associated with the vaccines.
COVID-19 vaccines do not cause infection; they do prevent severe illness from COVID-19, which is dangerous for a pregnant woman and her fetus. Maternal infection with the virus is associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery and stillbirth. Vaccinated mothers who are breastfeeding transmit antibodies that may help protect their newborns.
FAQs: Vaccine Basics
Click each question below for its answer:
Pfizer has reported that its vaccine is 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 infection, once seven days have passed since the second vaccine dose (booster shot). The Moderna vaccine is reporting a 94.5% effectiveness rate.
The COVID vaccine will help your body generate antibodies to help protect you from the virus without getting sick. Vaccines can produce longer-lasting protection than if you had the disease. Research shows antibodies in recovering adults last up to four months. The CDC says more data is needed to know how long immunity produced by the vaccination will last.
In a Pfizer trial study, the vaccine prevented the disease in 100 percent of the 1,131 adolescents who received it. Pfizer said the vaccine was well tolerated and side effects were consistent with those reported by people 16-25 years old. Our pediatricians and physicians say it is better to get the vaccine than to risk getting the disease, the symptoms and the possible long-term effects.
Please review the fact sheets for each vaccine, as developed by the manufacturers:
These are not new technologies. The vaccines are actually set up to give us immunity that is better than natural infection. We know the side effects of the natural infection. When we compare the risks to those at the frontlines that are being exposed to the virus and those in our community who are at high-risk for severe disease and death, those risks greatly overshadow the unknown risks of the vaccine.
No, it is made from a portion of the virus’ molecular material (RNA). For more information on the science behind the vaccine, please visit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention site, Understanding mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines. Also check out, Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines.
Yes, because the vaccine is 95% effective, not 100% effective. Those exposed to the virus later, after the booster vaccine, tended to have mild symptoms if they became ill at all.
The American Lung Association’s blog says, “In most cases, herd immunity is not achieved without an effective vaccine. For COVID-19, the percentage of the population that needs to be infected to achieve herd immunity is estimated to be between 70% and 90%, and this is assuming lasting immunity is possible.”
Herd immunity could happen naturally but would take years. Also, we know acquiring immunity through natural disease is risky to that person and comes with a high cost of hospitalizations, long-term health problems and even more deaths.
Older age and underlying medical conditions including obesity, a compromised immune system, hypertension, COPD, diabetes, and heart disease increase the risk of severe illness from the virus and should be considered as well. You may wish to discuss with your primary care provider.
Idaho Resources
National Resources
- Centers for Disease Control (CDC): COVID-19 FAQs
- National Institutes of Health (NIH): Coronavirus
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA): COVID-19 Vaccines
FAQs: Getting the Vaccine
Click each question below for its answer:
If you are an adult 18+, you can schedule by following these steps:
- Log into St. Luke’s myChart. (If you don’t have an account, you can create one online or by calling 208-381-9000.)
- Click on Schedule COVID Vaccine Appointment.
- Answer a few quick questions and then schedule your vaccine appointment.
- Minors cannot consent for a COVID vaccine. They must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian to provide consent at the time of the appointment. Written or verbal consent will need to be provided by a parent or legal guardian, if not present at the time of the appointment.
- Teens 16-17 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine, which is available at St. Luke’s sites in Boise, Hailey, McCall, Meridian, Mountain Home, Nampa and Twin Falls.
- Minors cannot schedule their own appointments in myChart. Parents or legal guardians with teen proxy access can schedule for the minor. To get teen proxy access, the teen will need to grant teen proxy access to their parent or legal guardian through their own MyChart account.
- Parents can schedule without proxy access by calling 208-381-9500.
- Minors can schedule their own vaccine appointment by calling 208-381-9500, however, they must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian to provide consent at the time of the appointment, or provide written or verbal consent of a parent or legal guardian, if not present at the time of the appointment.
How to Schedule
- Log into St. Luke’s myChart. (If a minor doesn’t have an account, they will need to get an activation code online or by calling 208-381-9000.)
- Click on Schedule COVID Vaccine Appointment.
- Answer a few quick questions and then schedule your vaccine appointment.
- Or call 208-381-9500.
- Minors cannot consent for a COVID vaccine. A parent or legal guardian should accompany minors to provide consent at the time of the appointment. Written or verbal consent by phone may be accepted if a parent or legal guardian is not present.
- Children 12-15 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine, which is available at St. Luke’s sites in Boise, Hailey, McCall, Meridian, Mountain Home, Nampa and Twin Falls.
- Minors cannot schedule their own appointments in myChart. Parents or legal guardians with teen proxy access can schedule for the minor. To get teen proxy access, the teen will need to grant teen proxy access to their parent or legal guardian through their own MyChart account.
- Parents and children can walk in or a parent can schedule by calling 208-381-9500. Note: we are not able to accommodate walk-ins in Hailey.
- Patients should wear loose-fitting clothing to allow access to the upper arm.
- Parents should be aware that we will not give the vaccine to children who don’t want it.
Please review our visitor policy.
Pfizer and Moderna both require two doses. Pfizer is given 21 days apart, and Moderna, 28 days apart. You will need to have both shots of the same vaccine, without mixing vaccine types. The first shot (primer) and the second shot (booster) are the same.
Janssen’s (Johnson & Johnson) is one dose.
Johnson & Johnson: Pain at the injection site is most common. Other common reactions included headache, fatigue and myalgia. Most symptoms resolved in one to two days.
It is important to note that reactions after the vaccine and the actual COVID-19 infection are significantly different. Vaccine reactions may involve some mild symptoms occurring in the first couple of days, coupled with the pain at the injection site, redness and swelling (from the vaccine), as noted above. By contrast, the COVID-19 infection reaction has a respiratory component, cough and nasal congestion, loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath, much more fever, and also a longer period of muscle pain, fatigue and headache.
Infrequently, people who have received dermal fillers may develop swelling at or near the filler injection site, usually face or lips, after receiving a dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna). It appears to be temporary and can resolve with medical treatment, including corticosteroid therapy. People who have received dermal fillers can be vaccinated without additional precautions but should contact their health care provider if they develop swelling afterward.
Although the vaccine itself is free, the federal government has created a way for health systems to charge and bill for the administration of the drugs.
Health systems will receive reimbursement from insurance plans and the federal government with no cost to patients.
Yes, the CDC has updated their guidance to state that health workers may administer another needed vaccine at the same time as the COVID vaccine. This applies to patients of any age.
If the person has recently received the COVID-19 vaccine, the current CDC recommendations state the need to defer TST (TB skin test) or IGRA (TB blood test) until four weeks after completion of the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. If the person is in that COVID-19 vaccine window, we recommend a healthcare screening to ensure that an individual does not have any symptoms of active (contagious) tuberculosis disease. This screening is provided by the Occupational Health clinics.
This health care screening does not rule out latent tuberculosis, which is when the disease is only in a dormant state and cannot be spread to others. However, with this preliminary clearance, testing for latent TB can be deferred until the four-week post-COVID-19 booster waiting period has ended. Once that person is past their COVID-19 vaccine window, they should proceed with the IGRA or TST, screening for latent TB.
FAQs: After Vaccination
Click each question below for its answer:
The CDC has published information on What to Expect after Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine and posts updates as more information becomes available.
When you receive a vaccination in one of our clinics, you will have the option to be monitored for about 15 minutes and medical staff will use safety precautions and respond immediately if you have an initial reaction. If you have a delayed reaction, please contact your primary care provider or call 911.
Yes. Experts need to know more about the protection provided by the vaccine, like how long it lasts, before changes are made to public prevention recommendations. To stop the pandemic, everyone should keep wearing masks, washing hands often and social distancing.
Masks are still required at all St. Luke's facilities, regardless of vaccination status.
It is most safe to visit those who are also vaccinated. The COVID-19 vaccines are not 100% effective and some, such as those who are unable to be vaccinated (e.g., young children) and some immunocompromised people who may not have developed robust antibodies to the vaccine, may be less protected and/or not protected.
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine will affect when or if you are eligible to donate blood. View Red Cross guidelines
