The very first updated COVID-19 vaccines are here.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on two new vaccines last week — one from Pfizer, one from Moderna. For now, Pfizer's is for everyone 12 years old and up, while Moderna's is only for adults over 18.
Both new vaccines are designed to fight against the BA.4 and BA.5 versions of Omicron, which are what is currently circulating across the US.
Here is what you need to know about them.
These may be the last free COVID-19 vaccines you'll get
This fall booster campaign is likely the last chance you'll get to have free COVID-19 shots from the US government.
Reuters reported last week that the Department of Health and Human Services is planning to "transition procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics from a federally managed system to the commercial marketplace" in 2023.
The shots are 'bivalent' meaning they target 2 versions of the virus
Half of the mRNA product is targeted against "ancestral" SARS-CoV-2, meaning it's the same stuff that was in previous vaccines. The other 50% of the dose is designed to combat BA.4 and BA.5, which are the specific versions of Omicron we are dealing with right now.
Having a bivalent product means that we will have good protection if and when the virus mutates again — even if it drifts away from the currently-circulating Omicron variants.
The strategy is similar to how vaccine-makers treat influenza. This year's flu vaccine, for example, is quadrivalent, meaning it is formulated to fight back against four distinct flu types.
Moderna's shot is still bigger than Pfizer's
The total mRNA volume of these vaccines is exactly the same size as previous booster shots:
The Pfizer shot contains 30ug, while Moderna's shot contains 50ug per dose.
If you recently had COVID, wait a couple months
On green-lighting these boosters, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said anyone can get one "at least two months" after their last COVID-19 shot.
If you had COVID this summer, you can technically get your booster any time.
However, health officials at the CDC say "people who recently had SARS-CoV-2 infection may consider delaying a primary series dose or booster dose by three months."
Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina recommends waiting at least two months after a COVID-19 infection, the same as you would after any previous COVID-19 shot.
"We do not have to wait 3 months after infection," Jetelina explained in a recent newsletter. "We won't 'exhaust' or 'overwhelm' our immune system, but by delaying we get the biggest bang for our vaccine buck."
Will you need a yearly COVID booster? Experts are divided
President Biden has suggested that COVID-19 vaccines are going to become an annual tradition, much like flu shots are now.
"One COVID-19 shot, once a year, each fall," he said on Tuesday in a statement.
Infectious disease experts aren't so sure about that. Many are hoping that new kinds of COVID-19 vaccines being developed could be better long-term solutions than the shots we have now. Some new vaccines are being designed as nasal sprays you can inhale, or patches you'd put on your skin, while other "universal" vaccines could target multiple different coronaviruses all at once.
Symptoms include arm pain and fatigue
The four most common side effects for both bivalent boosts have included:
- arm pain at the injection site,
- fatigue,
- headaches,
- and myalgia (generalized muscle aches and pains) after the shot is administered.
While this side effect data was generated from vaccine trials in people who got bivalent boosters targeted to BA.1, that's a version of Omicron that "only differs slightly" from BA.4/5, according to Dr. Peter Marks who directs the FDA's division in charge of vaccine safety and effectiveness. Vaccine side effects are expected to be very similar, if not identical, with these new shots.
