BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana Department of Health is following new CDC recommendations to shorten the Moderna booster interval.

This new guidance calls for the 6-month interval between completing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine series and receiving a booster dose to decrease to 5 months.

"Earlier this week, the booster interval was shortened for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as well. This means that individuals 12 and older who initially received an mRNA vaccine series (two doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine) should now receive an mRNA booster dose five months after completing their initial series. The booster interval recommendation for people who initially received the J&J vaccine (two months) has not changed," the Louisiana Department of Health stated in a release.

The department reports it has alerted all vaccine providers in the state that the new booster guidance is effective immediately.

To find a vaccine provider near you, click here.