A New COVID Vaccine Is Here: Why You Might Not Want to Rush to Get It

The FDA has approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine for everybody ages 6 months and up, once more presenting Americans with a dilemma: Should they get vaccinated now, as the most recent COVID-19 outbreak rages across the country, or save their shot for the winter surge?

The latest vaccine should provide some protection for everybody. But many healthy individuals who have already been vaccinated or have immunity because they’ve been exposed to COVID enough times might want to wait a couple of months.

COVID has turn into widespread. For some, it’s a light illness with few symptoms. Others lie around with fever, cough, and fatigue for days or even weeks. A much smaller group—mostly the elderly or chronically in poor health—suffer hospitalization or death.

It’s essential for high-risk people to get vaccinated, but vaccine protection wears off after a couple of months. People who rush to get the brand new vaccine may very well be at greater risk of getting sick this winter when the subsequent wave hits, said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a spokesman for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

On the opposite hand, the main variants could change by late fall, making the vaccine less effective, Peter Marks, the FDA’s chief vaccine official, said at an Aug. 23 briefing. He urged everyone eligible to get vaccinated, noting that the chance of long COVID is higher amongst unvaccinated or undervaccinated people.

Of course, if last yr’s COVID-19 vaccination drive is any indication, few Americans will heed his advice, despite the fact that this yr’s surge in cases has been particularly intense and levels of the COVID-19 virus in sewage suggest infections are as common as they were last winter.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now turning to wastewater as fewer people report their test results to health officials. Wastewater data shows the outbreak is worst in Western and Southern states. In New York, for instance, levels are considered “high” — compared with “very high” in Georgia.

COVID hospitalizations and deaths are also trending upward. But unlike infections, these rates are nowhere near those seen during winter surges or in previous years. In July, greater than 2,000 people died from COVID—a big number, but a small fraction of the at the least 25,700 COVID deaths in July 2020.

Partial immunity built up through vaccines and former infections deserves credit for that relief. A latest study suggests that current variants could also be less virulent — one in every of the most recent variants within the study he didn’t kill the mouse exposed to it, unlike most previous COVID variants.

Public health officials note that even with the rise in cases this summer, people seem to be managing the illness at home. “We’ve seen a slight increase in cases, but it hasn’t had a significant impact on hospitalizations and emergency room visits,” Connecticut Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani said at an Aug. 21 news conference.

Unlike the flu or traditional cold viruses, COVID appears to be thriving outside of the cold months, when infected children at school, dry air and indoor activities are thought to allow airborne and saliva-borne viruses to spread. No one is certain why.

“COVID is still very contagious, it’s brand new, and in the summer, people are gathering in air-conditioned spaces,” said John Moore, a virologist and professor at Weill Cornell Medicine College at Cornell University.

“Or maybe COVID is more resistant to moisture and other environmental conditions in the summer,” said Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University.

Because viruses evolve as they infect people, the CDC has beneficial updated COVID vaccines yearly. Last fall’s booster shot was designed to goal the omicron variant circulating in 2023. This yr, mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer and a protein-based vaccine from Novavax — which has not yet been approved by the FDA — goal the newer omicron variant, JN.1.

The FDA has determined that mRNA vaccines are effective at protecting people against severe disease and death — and can proceed to say so at the same time as earlier JN.1 variants are actually being displaced by others.

Public interest in COVID-19 vaccines has waned, with just 1 in 5 adults getting a shot since last September, down from about 80% who’ve received their first dose. New Yorkers were barely above the national vaccination rate, while in Georgia, only about 17% had received their final dose.

Vaccine uptake is lower in states where a majority voted for Donald Trump in 2020, and amongst those that have less money, less education, less access to health care, or less day without work work. These groups are also more likely The risk of hospitalization or death from the disease, according to a 2023 study published in The Lancet.

While newly developed vaccines are higher targeted at circulating COVID variants, uninsured and underinsured Americans could have to hurry in the event that they want to get the vaccine free of charge. The CDC program that has provided booster shots to 1.5 million people over the past yr has exhausted funds and is ending Aug. 31.

The agency has pocketed $62 million in unspent funds to pay state and native health departments to provide latest vaccines to people without insurance. But “that may not be enough” if the vaccine costs the agency about $86 per dose, because it did last yr, said Kelly Moore, CEO of Immunize.org, which advocates for vaccinations.

People who pay out of pocket at pharmacies face higher prices: CVS plans to sell the improved vaccine for $201.99, said Amy Thibault, an organization spokeswoman.

“Price can be a barrier, access can be a barrier” to accessing vaccinations, said David Scales, an assistant professor of drugs at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Without an access program to provide vaccines to uninsured adults, “we will see disparities in health care outcomes and disproportionately high disease outbreaks among the working poor who cannot afford to take time off,” said Kelly Moore.

New York state has about $1 million to fill gaps when the CDC program ends, said Danielle De Souza, a spokeswoman for the New York State Department of Health. That will allow it to buy about 12,500 doses for uninsured and underinsured adults, she said. There are about 1 million uninsured people within the state.

Last yr, CDC and FDA experts decided to promote annual fall vaccinations against COVID and influenza, in addition to a one-time vaccination against RSV for certain groups.

It could be impractical for vaccine manufacturers to change the COVID-19 vaccine formula twice a yr, and giving three shots in a single or two doctor visits looks like the easiest way to increase the number of individuals vaccinated, according to Schaffner, who’s a consultant to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

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He added that at its next meeting in October, the commission will likely appeal to people prone to infection to receive a second dose of the identical COVID-19 vaccine within the spring to protect themselves against one other wave of infections in the summertime.

If you’re in a vulnerable group and are waiting until after the vacations to get vaccinated, Schaffner said it’s value wearing a mask and avoiding large crowds, and getting tested in case you think you could have COVID. If the test comes back positive, people in these groups should seek medical attention, because the antiviral pill Paxlovid can ease symptoms and keep them out of the hospital.

For conscientious individuals who feel they might be sick and don’t want to spread COVID-19, the most effective advice is to take a single test and, if it comes back positive, try to isolate for a couple of days, then wear a mask for a couple of days while avoiding crowded spaces. Retesting after a positive result’s pointless, because virus particles can linger within the nose for days, with no risk of infecting others, Schaffner said.

The Department of Health and Human Services will make 4 free COVID-19 tests available to anyone who requests them starting in late September through the web site covidtest.gov, Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said at an Aug. 23 briefing.

The government is focusing its fall vaccination drive, which it has dubbed “Less Risk, More Life,” on older people and nursing home residents, HHS spokesman Jeff Nesbit said.

Not everyone may really want a fall COVID booster, but “it’s not a bad thing to give people options,” said John Moore. “A 20-year-old athlete is less at risk than a 70-year-old overweight guy. It’s that simple.”

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