What you need to know about boosters now

Many of the emerging variants contain mutations that allow them to evade vaccine-induced or innate immunity, but health experts say the new boosters should offer some protection. The new booster vaccine is “bivalent,” the two versions of the original strain that emerged in China more than two years ago, and the Omicron subtype, which defeated older variants of the original virus to become the most common circulation. It targets both species.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the Omicron BA.5 subvariant still predominates in the United States, although it is on the decline, currently accounting for only 67.9% of the variants in circulation. The number of omicron derivatives that have appeared is dizzying and currently includes BA.4.6 and BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 and BF.7.who Officials said this month that scientists are monitoring more than 300 substrains of Omicron.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution interviewed Dr. Evelyn Twentyman, leader of CDC’s COVID-19 Vaccine Policy Unit, to learn more about current vaccines and variants. Interviews have been edited for clarity and length.

Q: Why is it recommended to get a COVID booster?

A: In fact, a COVID-19 vaccine is the only best way we currently need to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities from COVID-19. And especially its severe consequences. We have collected a lot of data and done a lot of research on the results of people who have not been vaccinated so that we can compare that to the results of people who are up to date on vaccination and recommended boosters. In August of this year, people who hadn’t been vaccinated were almost six times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID than those who had vaccinated (and boosted). And unfortunately it was a bit higher in older people, say from age 50 he looked only at adults aged 74 and those who hadn’t been vaccinated compared to those who had been vaccinated. In comparison, he was 7.4 times more likely to actually be hospitalized with COVID.

Q: This updated vaccine is designed to target Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, but what about the emerging variants and their ability to evade the vaccine-induced immune response? how is?

A: What we find most exciting about this updated bivalent booster is that it is specifically designed to target not only the original strain of the virus that causes COVID, but also the currently dominant strains, namely BA.4 and BA.5. is being done. stock.

We at the CDC are tracking the emergence of multiple variants very closely.97% of the variants in circulation today are BA.4 or BA.5 variants, so I’m very happy to have a booster to protect myself. Does that mean you stop looking at subspecies? Not once. …in fact, it’s very reassuring that he’s targeting so well with his current bivalent booster.

Q: Are bivalent boosters expected to continue to provide protection against emerging variants?

A: yes. A bivalent booster does two things. Both restore protections that may have waned over time in those who have taken the primary series and extend protection against these new COVID-19 virus variants.

Rest assured that we at the CDC, along with our partners at other federal agencies and across academia, continue to track that data very closely. To see if additional doses are recommended, and if so, if changes to these vaccines are necessary.

Q: Should people who get coronavirus in the summer, say July, get a booster now, or wait until the winter break approaches when they are likely to travel or gather at home with family and friends? ?

A: So if someone got COVID-19 in July, get it now. If you’re asking, “Should that person wait until the holidays?” I don’t think so. I think now is the perfect time to prime your immune system. Not only about that next trip, but about what happened before that, about all the exposures you had before that. Now is the time.

Q: Will COVID boosters be needed every year like the flu vaccine?

A: I think the flu analogy is a pretty good analogy. We don’t know what changes the virus will bring. So we don’t know what changes the vaccine will need. We know that we have very strong structures in place to monitor all this: viruses, vaccines, efficacy, vaccine safety. given time.

Also, one of the exciting things happening today is looking at ways to integrate the COVID-19 vaccine into standard immunization schedules. So, we recognize that it could become part of the standard of good medical care going forward. And to be very clear, this has absolutely nothing to do with delegation.

John Perry, Technical Director of AJC’s Data Journalism team, contributed to this article.

divalent booster

Bivalent boosters are now available to anyone over the age of 5 who had their first vaccination or booster injections at least 2 months ago. In the United States, including Georgia, coverage is very low, with about 5% of those over the age of 12 receiving her bivalent vaccine. Not everyone in this age group gets a booster, including those who have recently had COVID. Her children aged 5 to 11 have only recently qualified for the bivalent vaccine, so vaccination for this age group is just beginning and there are no statistics yet for this youngest age group.

Pfizer

10,906: Ages 12-17

161,635: 18-65

108,872: 65+

modern

94: Ages 12-17

65,884: 18-65

88,529: 65+

Credit: John Perry, Technical Director of the Georgia Department of Public Health and AJC’s data journalism team