What to Know About the Updated COVID-19 Vaccine for Fall/Winter 2023
Published
As we head into fall, vaccines continue to be one of the best and safest ways to protect ourselves and our loved ones against severe COVID illness. Updated COVID vaccines are designed to target the variants currently circulating and are recommended for everyone 6 months of age and older.
In this Q&A, Andy Pekosz, PhD, a professor in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, shares all the details about the updated vaccine, including what makes it different from previous COVID vaccines, who should get it, and whether it’s safe to get it alongside vaccines for other fall viruses like flu and RSV.
As of September 14, 2023, the FDA approval and CDC recommendations apply to the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Another vaccine from Novavax is currently under FDA review. [This article will be updated when more information is available about the Novavax COVID vaccine.]
What is different about the updated COVID vaccine?
The updated COVID vaccine approved by the FDA this week
is based on a variant called XBB.1.5. It will be the only COVID vaccine that's available this fall. With this updated COVID vaccine, we're back to what we call a monovalent vaccine, meaning there's only one component—that XBB.1.5 variant—compared with the previous bivalent COVID vaccine.
Who should be getting one? And when?
One dose of the updated COVID vaccine is recommended for all individuals 5 years and older. According to updated CDC guidelines, individuals in certain risk groups may receive additional doses
with their health care provider’s guidance.
For children ages six months to five years
, vaccination is recommended, but the number of vaccinations are based on which vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) they receive, as well as their age.
People at higher risk of severe illness
should get the updated COVID vaccine as soon as possible. With the holiday season ahead of us and cooler weather driving more indoor gatherings, experts recommend that everyone who is eligible get their updated COVID vaccine by mid-October.
What do we know about how well the updated vaccine works against the variants currently circulating?
Overall, studies show that the updated vaccine is effective against the variants currently causing the majority of COVID cases
in the U.S.: EG.5, FL.1.5.1, and others in the XBB family.
All viruses mutate, so while none of the variants circulating right now are exact matches to the vaccine, they’re all closely related to the XBB.1.5 strain it’s based on. Studies have shown that antibodies generated to the XBB.1.5 variant cross-react well with the EG.5 variant. The same is true for the FL.1.5.1 variant, which has been increasing in prevalence since mid-summer.
What about the vaccine’s effectiveness against the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant?
Laboratory data suggest that the updated vaccines will generate an immune response that recognizes the BA.2.86 variant. This is especially good news after the initial concern surrounding the variant’s high number of mutations. Additionally, BA.2.86 has not caused a surge of cases in the countries where it’s been detected; it appears unable to compete with the other variants currently circulating.
Is vaccine-induced immunity better than immunity from infection?
Vaccine-induced immunity is better because it’s safer. When you get infected with COVID, you have symptoms from the virus that wreak havoc on your body. Whether or not you’ve been infected or vaccinated previously, the updated COVID vaccine is going to strengthen your immune responses to high levels and do so in a safe way.
Are there any side effects to the updated vaccine that are different from previous shots?
No, the possible side effects reported for the updated COVID vaccine are the same as with the previous vaccines.
metmike: Those side effects are very minimal compared to getting COVID!
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/13/politics/desantis-covid-booster-florida-2024/index.html
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is advising people under the age of 65 against getting the new Covid-19 booster shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, contradicting federal health officials’ guidance.
DeSantis, a 2024 Republican presidential contender, said he won’t allow federal officials who green-lit the new boosters to “use healthy Floridians as guinea pigs for new booster shots that have not been proven to be safe or effective.”
The Florida governor’s comments are the latest escalation of his efforts to place his Covid-19 management at the forefront of his campaign. DeSantis in recent weeks has sharply criticized former President Donald Trump’s handling of the early months of the pandemic, arguing that Trump ceded control to Anthony Fauci, the long-time top federal infectious disease expert.
“Once again, Florida is the first state in the nation to stand up and provide guidance based on truth, not Washington edicts,” he said Wednesday.
Amid an uptick in coronavirus cases and an increase in hospitalizations late this summer, GOP presidential contenders have increasingly touted their opposition to new public safety efforts – seizing at times on limited, local mask mandates to warn against broader restrictions.
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It's not a matter of whether people will die in Florida because of this advise by DeSantis (who is trading peoples lives to get votes using politics and not science) but the question is: "How many will die in Florida because of it?"
For the anti vaxxers here. Put the anti science politics away for just this one thing and protect your health. Get vaccinated.
I speak as a scientist on this topic. Not a vaccine expert but somebody that clearly understands the science of vaccines, having spent many hundreds of hours studying this one.
One of the smartest, cheapest/easiest things that all of us can do to protect our health is get vaccinated for COVID.
I'll be getting vaccinated for COVID again in the next 2 months. During the chess season(Nov-Apr), I go to 5 schools with 300+ kids around me each week. This will be the 3rd or 4th COVID vaccination. I had COVID 1 time in August 2022.
My wife just had COVID for the 2nd time this past July (she also had it in June 2022) but she will get vaccinated again this Fall too.
COVID vaxx DISinformation/information compilation
Started by metmike - July 23, 2022, 5:07 p.m.
https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/87451/
How Ya Feeling mm? -- NT
Started by 7475 - Aug. 11, 2022, 9:26 p.m.
https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/88045/
This also explains Paxlovid below:
Biden shines-incredible story!-may have saved my wife's life!
29 responses |
Started by metmike - June 2, 2022, 6:52 p.m.
https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/85199/
Risk/ benefit info from Germany
7 responses |
Started by cutworm - Aug. 3, 2022, 12:59 p.m.
https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/87797/
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COVID-19 vaccines have saved 20 million lives so far, study estimates
Deaths from COVID-19 were two-thirds lower than they otherwise could have been during the first year of the vaccination programme, mathematical modelling suggests.
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If this news is shocking to anybody, then they are relying on some really BAD sources for information. Now that you can see the authentic data/information, you can't just blame bad sources anymore because you just got a good one with the truth and have a choice:
Believe the truth or choose to believe the bad sources because that's what you WANT to believe.
For those who still insist on believing the bad/wrong sources........it's on them.
Ron Desantis is causing people to die with his really bad, anti science advice based on politics. One of them doesn't have to be you.
Don't believe that?
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https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/92044/#92103
We live in the best time in history by an extremely wide margin with regards to science, technology, medicine and learning opportunities.
I'm here to assist others in maximizing those opportunities and feel bad if you think its demeaning.
On this particular topic, the evidence clearly shows how many people, many being anti vaxx republicans have died because of their bad position on the COVID vax.
90,000 US COVID-19 deaths could have been prevented
Started by metmike - Jan. 9, 2022, 4:23 p.m.
https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/80126/
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Copied from the last link above. Graphs below at the end of 2021, when vaccination rates were ramping up, that told us with 100% certainty, how the COVID vaccinations were impacting populations by state using whether it was a blue state(with very high vaccination rates) or red state (low vaccination rates).
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https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/80126/#80127
Since some people want to believe only words from forked tongue sources and not authentic sources or authentic data/science, maybe these eye popping graphs will help them out!
COVID-19 Update for the United States
The new cases appear to be dropping!
Deaths are still increasing, mainly because there's a long lag between catching COVID and dying. Deaths today come from new cases/emergency room visits back in July/August. Some of those become hospitalizations, then some of those finally become deaths, weeks later.
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home
Update from this week is much the same as the last one above!
COVID-19 Update for the United States