FDA wants COVID-19 boosters to target newer, highly contagious variants
ATLANTA - If you choose to get a COVID-19 booster this fall, it could help protect you against the highly contagious omicron spin-offs B.4 and B.5, which are now driving just over half of new infections in the US.
The FDA told vaccine manufacturers to tweak their boosters to create a combination shot that targets both the original virus and the highly contagious newer variants.
The newer boosters are still being developed and tested, although the agency is hoping they will be ready as the country heads into winter when respiratory viruses typically begin to surge.
Lori Reed, an advanced lung disease nurse practitioner at the Piedmont Pulmonary COVID-19 Recovery Clinic in Atlanta, says, if you are due for a booster now, do not wait around for another 4 or 5 months for the newer booster.
"People that are due for boosters right now, that means that you're not necessarily protected as you were before, and I don't want there to be a lapse in protection, because we've protected you this far and this long, (so) let's keep going," Reed says "So, I do recommend you get that booster."
Experts say boosters are needed because the protection provided by the vaccines weakens with time.
The CDC recommends Americans 5 and older get their first COVID-19 booster five months after their second shot.
Those 50 and older can get a second booster four months after their first booster.
Dr. Felipe Lobelo, a medical doctor and head of epidemiology for Kaiser Permanente Georgia, says it makes sense that as this virus evolves, the vaccine will need to change, too.
"We've always known that updates to the vaccination were going to be needed, just like we have with flu," Dr. Lobelo says. "The thing about this virus is that it mutates much faster than the flu. With the flu, we're okay with doing an update of the vaccination every year. With COVID, with what we're seeing now, we know we need that update about every 6 months. And that's what we're seeing with the data."