The US Department of Health has approved a new dose of the coronavirus booster in preparation for the fall.
The WEB MD website says the updated doses are designed to provide stronger protection against the BA.4 and BA.5 subtypes of the Omicron mutation, which continue to cause tens of thousands of infections and hundreds of deaths in the United States every day.
The boosters are part of a campaign launched by federal officials over the next few days to persuade Americans to boost their immune defenses ahead of a possible surge in coronavirus cases as colder weather arrives in the fall.
After receiving emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, booster doses now require approval by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its advisors.
And if all goes as expected, some potions may be available this weekend.
The new boosters, which are to be administered as a single dose, will be available in the same places where previous vaccines and boosters were available: doctors’ offices, hospitals, pharmacies and community health clinics. Upgraded boosters have been purchased by the feds. It will be free for the government and consumers.
The CDC is expected to recommend doses for the same ages as those approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 12 and older for the new doses from Pfizer and its German partner Biontech, and 18 and older for Moderna’s booster.
Officials are expected to consider using a booster dose for younger children at a later date.
Anyone who received a two-dose primary series of mRNA vaccines or a single dose of mRNA vaccines will be eligible, regardless of whether they received any of the recommended booster doses.
People who have recently received their primary or booster vaccine should wait two months before receiving an updated vaccine, the FDA said. Getting a new dose too soon can limit its effectiveness.
According to the CDC, side effects from booster doses are not expected to differ from those associated with the current vaccine, which include redness and swelling at the site of the vaccine, as well as fatigue, headache and muscle aches, and more serious side effects are rare.
According to doctors who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, elderly or immunocompromised people should get the booster as soon as they’re eligible or about a month after recovering from a recent infection to reduce the chance of severe illness.
Doctors say that waiting at least two months after the last vaccination against corona will help strengthen the immune response.
Doctors expect cases of infection to rise as temperatures drop and more people gather indoors.
They say another type is likely to emerge, so doctors warn that waiting for cases to rise again could increase the risk of relapse or complications.
Yes, but those receiving both doses are likely to feel a little more pain than usual, but the procedure is otherwise safe, Dr. Abhinash Virk, an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic, told the Wall Street Journal.
Previous research has shown that “receiving a Moderna or Pfizer booster dose after a Johnson & Johnson vaccine dose produced more antibodies than a second Johnson & Johnson dose.”
And US health officials say: “The new coronavirus booster doses are similar in some ways to the annual update of seasonal flu vaccines.
Source: Lebanon Debate
