When will the shots be available?

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Thursday endorsed a recommendation by an advisory panel, paving the way for some providers to begin administering the shots as early as this weekend. People should check with local pharmacies and providers and visit vaccines.gov before showing up to get the shots because only about 1.5 million doses were likely to be available initially, according to information provided to state health officials. Another 10 million doses are scheduled to be delivered early next week, after Labor Day. The U.S. government has bought more than 170 million doses.

Where can I get one and how much will it cost?

The new boosters, which are intended as single shots, will be available at the same places where the previous boosters and vaccines have been available — at doctors offices, hospitals, pharmacies and community health clinics. Like the previous coronavirus shots, the updated boosters have been purchased by the federal government and will be free to consumers. The booster takes two weeks to take full effect and can be administered at the same time as the annual flu shot, officials said. The CDC suggests that young men who get the monkeypox vaccine, called Jynneos, might want to wait for four weeks before getting the updated booster. That reduces the risk of inflammation of the heart muscle, a rare complication of the mRNA coronavirus shots that can affect young men. However, the CDC says, if vaccination with a monkeypox shot is recommended because of exposure to the virus or the outbreak in general, people should get the Jynneos vaccine even if they recently received a Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech shot.

If I just got a booster of the original vaccine, should I get the new one right away?

No. The FDA said people who recently received their initial vaccine or a booster should wait at least two months before getting the updated booster. Getting the new booster too soon could limit its effectiveness. The delay also reduces the chance of side effects. Some experts have said waiting even longer is better. Grace Lee, a pediatrics professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and chair of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, said she would recommend waiting a minimum three months from either an infection or a prior dose before getting the new booster

What if I just had covid, including a rebound after Paxlovid?

People who recently had a covid infection should consider delaying their booster shot by three months from symptom onset or positive test (if the infection was asymptomatic), according to the CDC. If someone experienced a rebound infection after taking Paxlovid, they should count three months from the second symptom onset, the CDC said.

Will the new boosters be more effective against the omicron variant?

FDA officials say they believe the vaccine will be more effective against omicron but acknowledge they need more data to know for sure. “The proof will be in the pudding,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf. The original vaccine, which hadn’t been updated since it became available in late December 2020, targeted the virus that emerged from Wuhan, China, a strain that is no longer circulating. Human data on the new recipe won’t be available for another month or two, when clinical trials are completed, officials said. Mice studies, which are used in updating the flu vaccine every year, showed a substantial increase in virus-fighting antibodies against the omicron mutations. FDA officials also considered human data from previous experimental bivalent vaccines. Agency officials and many other scientists believe the new booster, which includes components from the original vaccine, as well as components zeroing in on BA. 4 and BA. 5, will be a better match for today’s threat. The agency did not want to wait for clinical trials, which would have delayed deployment of the updated booster as cold weather approached. Officials said they are confident about the shot’s safety given the extensive use of mRNA vaccines. “We are hoping this will really help us get on top of things” and perhaps encourage those who have not gotten any boosters to finally receive the shot, said Peter Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine official. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the infectious-diseases division at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, supports the FDA approach. “I think it is going to be better,” Marrazzo said. “At least it reflects where the virus is going.” “It’s a race against an evolving virus at a time when you are being asked to go back into the office and winter is coming,” Marrazzo added. “There is really no right answer, but with stakes being high, it’s better to err on side of offering the protection.” Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the updated boosters should improve protection even if a new variant emerges from “out of left field.” Other scientists are skeptical. “We don’t know how well these vaccines are going to do,” said Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease doctor and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. “What are the added benefits?” Some experts say the paucity of human data could damp Americans’ interest in the booster. “Is this going to make a big difference? There is a lot of debate about that,” Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, said.

Who are the boosters for?

The CDC recommended the shots for the same ages authorized by the FDA — 12 and older for the new booster from Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, and 18 and up for the Moderna booster. Anyone who has received the two-shot primary series of the mRNA or Novavax vaccines and the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be eligible, regardless of whether they received any — or all — of the recommended booster shots. Even if an individual received more than one booster of the original formulation, they can get the updated booster as long as it has been at least two months after their last shot. The CDC estimates about 200 million Americans 12 and older are eligible for the updated shot.

Should pregnant women get the updated boosters?

Yes. Pregnant and recently pregnant people are at increased risk for severe illness and death from covid-19, compared to people who aren’t pregnant, although the overall risks are low. Also, if you have covid-19 during pregnancy, you are at increased risk of complications that can affect your pregnancy and developing baby, such as preterm birth and stillbirths , according to the CDC. Recent studies have also shown that antibodies produced in a pregnant individual after vaccination are transferred to the newborn, and covid-19 vaccination of pregnant people reduces the risk of hospitalization in infants younger than 6 months.

My child is under 12. Should they wait for the FDA to authorize the new booster for younger children?

CDC says the original boosters available to children 5 through 11 are effective in preventing severe disease, and officials encourage parents to get their children those shots if they are eligible. Children in that age group, for instance, can get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine five months after they have completed their two-dose primary series. Because those ages 6 to 11 only became eligible for the two-shot Moderna vaccine in June, however, those children would not yet be eligible for a booster, said Evelyn Twentyman, a CDC physician who works on covid-19 vaccination guidance. Children under 5 are not eligible for any booster. FDA officials are expected to consider use of updated boosters in younger children later this year. A Moderna representative said the company expects to submit data on reformulated boosters in children 6 to 17 years old by the end of September. Moderna’s study on children 6 months to 5 years is expected to be done by year’s end. Pfizer hopes to provide its updated booster data for children 5 to 11 in the first part of October. The original mRNA vaccine will continue to be used for the initial inoculation series, but not as a booster for those 12 and older because officials want to ensure people “get the most up to date version of the booster vaccine,” Marks said.

What are the side effects of the boosters?

Side effects are not expected to differ from those associated with the current vaccine, which include redness and swelling at the vaccine site, as well as occasional fatigue, headache and muscle soreness, according to the CDC. More serious reactions are rare.

Health

What you need to know about fall booster shots of coronavirus vaccine

By Laurie McGinley

and

Lena H. Sun

Updated September 2, 2022 at 6:02 p.m. EDT|Published August 31, 2022 at 10:05 a.m. EDT

Coronavirus booster shots formulated to thwart the original virus and the omicron variant have been authorized by federal regulators. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg News)

New coronavirus boosters are just around the corner following authorization by federal regulators and a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The updated shots are designed to provide a stronger shield against the BA. 4 and BA. 5 omicron subvariants still causing tens of thousands of infections and hundreds of deaths every day in the United States.

The boosters will be part of a campaign by the federal government, to be kicked off within days, to persuade Americans to bolster their immune defenses before a potential surge in covid-19 cases as cooler weather arrives in the fall. Food and Drug Administration officials say some forecasting models predict an increase in cases in coming months, with a peak in late November or early December.

But the updated boosters have generated some controversy and confusion. Here’s what you need to know:

Coronavirus: What you need to know

Where do things stand? See the latest covid numbers in the U.S. and across the world. In the U.S., pandemic trends have shifted and now White people are more likely to die from covid than Black people.

The state of public health: Conservative and libertarian forces have defanged much of the nation’s public health system through legislation and litigation as the world staggers into the fourth year of covid.

Grief and the pandemic: A Washington Post reporter covered the coronavirus — and then endured the death of her mother from covid-19. She offers a window into grief and resilience.

Would we shut down again? What will the United States do the next time a deadly virus comes knocking on the door?

Vaccines: The CDC recommends that everyone age 5 and older get an updated covid booster shot. New federal data shows adults who received the updated shots cut their risk of being hospitalized with covid-19 by 50 percent. Here’s guidance on when you should get the omicron booster and how vaccine efficacy could be affected by your prior infections.

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