CNN
—
Is it time for another Covid-19 vaccine booster? It’s the question many people ask their doctors, given what happened last week: the US Food and Drug Administration amended its authorization to allow a second bivalent booster for certain individuals more vulnerable to severe Covid-19 outcomes. Subsequently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. signed the FDA update and added additional clinical considerations to guide healthcare providers and patients.
I have many questions. Who is eligible for the second bivalent boosters? Is the reinforcement composition the same as before? If someone gets the booster now, can they get another booster in the fall? What if someone is not in one of these high-risk groups, but lives with a high-risk family member? And how has the guidance changed for people who have not yet received their first booster and those who remain unvaccinated?
To look for some answers, I reached out to CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen. Wen is an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. She previously served as Baltimore’s health commissioner.
CNN: Can you bring us up to date on the major updates? Who is now eligible to receive the second? bivalent booster?
Dr. Leana Wen: There are two groups that can now receive a second bivalent boost.
First, are people 65 years of age or older. From very early on in the pandemic, we know that older people are among the most susceptible to serious outcomes from Covid-19. These people may recently receive their second bivalent booster if it has been at least 4 months since their first bivalent injection.
Second, are immunocompromised people. The new guidance from the CDC is that anyone over the age of 6 with moderate or severe immunocompromise You can receive a second bivalent booster if at least two months have passed since the first. They should also check with their doctors; depending on their specific medical circumstances, they may be able to receive the bivalent booster every two months.
CNN: Is the composition of the booster the same as before?
Wen: The bivalent reinforcement I am referring to is the upgraded booster which first became available in the fall of 2022, which targets both the original strain of the coronavirus and the omicron BA.4/BA.5 sub-variants. Studies have shown that this booster continues to be effective against commonly circulating strains when it comes to important metrics of severe disease reduction. Those newly eligible for their second injection would receive this bivalent booster once again. Selecting the original monovalent shot is not an option, and no other boost type is available.
CNN: If someone gets the booster now, can they get another booster in the fall?
Wen: There may be an updated version of the booster available in the fall that more specifically targets the dominant variants in circulation. The people who are newly eligible to receive the second bivalent booster are vulnerable people who would almost certainly be the same groups first eligible to receive another Covid-19 vaccine in the fall. This is all to say that people should not be deterred from getting a booster now by thinking it will prevent them from getting another vaccine later.
CNN: What if someone isn’t in one of these high-risk groups, but lives with a high-risk family member?
Wen: That person would not be eligible on their own. Vaccines against Covid-19 are very good for reducing the risk of hospitalization and death for the person being vaccinated. For a short time, it reduces the risk of infection, but that effect is muted and temporary. Federal health officials have not authorized family members or caregivers of high-risk individuals to receive the second bivalent booster, and I believe this is the correct decision based on scientific evidence.
There are other ways to reduce the risk of contracting Covid-19 and infecting someone close to you. Those methods include regular testing, especially when there are symptoms or after exposure to an infected person, and wearing a high-quality mask in crowded indoor spaces.
CNN: How has the guidance changed for people who haven’t received their first booster yet and those who remain unvaccinated?
Wen: it really is changed quite a bit. The CDC aims to simplify vaccine recommendations and has made several important changes.
For starters, the bivalent vaccine is going to be the only vaccine available. The original monovalent vaccine will no longer be used, even in people who have not yet been vaccinated. This will help simplify vaccine administration, as pharmacies no longer need to keep both types of vaccines in stock.
In addition, unvaccinated individuals 6 years of age and older will be considered up to date if they received only one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna bivalent booster. The thinking here is that most unvaccinated people in this age group have already contracted Covid-19, and one dose of the updated booster is enough to provide additional protection.
People who have received previous coronavirus vaccines will still need at least one dose of the bivalent booster to be considered up to date. That is, even if a person received three or more doses of the original monovalent vaccines, they are still not considered up to date unless they have received at least one bivalent dose. This is an important point, as CDC data shows that less than one in five persons eligible to receive the first bivalent dose have received it; That means that, by his new definition, fewer than one in five Americans who previously considered themselves fully vaccinated are actually up to date on their Covid-19 vaccines.
CNN: What is the bottom line? Should people newly eligible to receive boosters do so immediately?
Wen: I think newly eligible people should talk to their doctors about what’s right for them. The CDC issued what’s called a permissive recommendation, which means people can choose to get that extra boost if they want. A generally healthy 65-year-old who recently had Covid-19 might choose to wait until the fall for another booster. But an 89-year-old with kidney disease and a history of stroke and heart attack, and who is not eligible to take the antiviral treatment Paxlovid, may want every level of protection possible, even with the added boost.
In my opinion, this permissive approach of additional reinforcements is in line with where we are at this moment in the Covid-19 pandemic: people must choose the level of protection that is most appropriate for them, based on their circumstances. individual doctors.
—————————————————-
Source link