– Take air conditioners out of the windows.

– Buy a new snow shovel.

– Finish stacking seasoned wood.

– Put snow tires on the car.

– Get a flu shot.

After the spike in COVID-19 cases last winter — as social gatherings headed indoors — this year you may want to add “Get an updated COVID booster shot” to that list.

On Aug. 31, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorizations of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, authorizing what they call “bivalent formulations” of the vaccines for use as a single booster dose. They can be administered at least two months following a primary or booster vaccination.

You can get the updated booster shots at a local pharmacy, such as Walgreens, or at the Essex County Health Department in Elizabethtown, which on Monday, Sept. 12 began hosting COVID booster clinics every Monday. According to ECHD officials, the updated booster aligns better with known COVID-19 variants currently circulating, specifically Omicron BA.4 and BA.5.

“The Essex County Health Department is prioritizing the bivalent booster as schools are back in session and the colder months are almost upon us,” ECHD Director Linda Beers said in a Sept. 9 press release.

Colder months. We know. It’s one more thing to do before the snow flies.