Today a friend asked me what was up with #COVID vaccines. Why haven't we been encouraged to get further boosters?
The short answer is that there's a new version coming this fall that targets the now-prevalent XBB.1.5 strain that was not included in previous formulations.
My guess is that this will be made available, but not necessarily recommended, to all US adults. I will be getting it if it is available to me.
@ct_bergstrom And in the meantime, folks 65 and older _are_ encouraged to get an additional booster. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html
Kind of wonder if we'll end up with a mixed schedule of every year for under-65, twice a year for 65+.
I wonder when. I'm invited to a big deal family wedding across country and my last shot was the bivalent last fall so I'll be needing something soon
Yes I understand the advantage... mRNA much closer to manufacturing vs growing old fashioned vaccines
Sounds like I'd have to get what we already have....
@ct_bergstrom for what it's worth, the recommendation in 🇦🇺 was that people 65+ and 18-64 with comorbidities be vaccinated early 2023, and that others can consider a booster based on their own risk profile. https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/covid-19-vaccines/advice-for-providers/clinical-guidance/clinical-recommendations
As I'm a health professional, I've chosen to be boosted again, despite not being in a "recommended" group. Many people I know have done the same. But the overall rates are low: only 3 million out of 20 million 🇦🇺 adults have had a booster in the last 6 months
@ct_bergstrom ooof... If the CDC doesn't recommend it, insurance is unlikely to cover it (unless governments get back in the business of buying doses)
Wish we were also focusing on inhaled vaccines in the US 😔
Just anecdotally, the bivalent booster didn't prevent me from getting COVID ~5 weeks later 😬
The way it was explained to me, the #COVID vaccine isn't a magic shield that stops the virus from spreading. It just makes it so if we get it, the effects are reduced and you have a better chance of avoiding hospitalization or death.
Every single person I know who got vaxxed and then caught it, lived. Some barely felt it. Others (like me) got our asses kicked by it for weeks, with varying side-effects.
But we all survived. The vaccine did its job.
@raminf @ct_bergstrom oh, yes, I'm well aware. Still glad I had the bivalent booster. I just suspect inhaled vaccines in addition might offer an initial layer of defense.
Mostly I am really hoping my friends who are still quarantining over three years later can start doing social things again without a big risk of them contracting it for the first time.
@ct_bergstrom
Having just checked in w/ an east coast academic med center w/ good ties to CDC's and FDA's vaccine panels (but about some other issue), I did inquire about COVID vax. I find myself in that "almost high risk" cohort based on metrics, so gathering data/info always seems prudent. Have also not yet been diagnosed w/ COVID (🤞; I still assess large groups and carry and where a mask — N95 or KN95 — when & where I please).
Yours words seem to be the gossip. I'll get it too, when I can.
strange times - restricted vaccines 💉access 😳 I don’t understand this.
@tobi82 @ericschutte @ct_bergstrom
Yep.....eugenics of the younger.
@artisanrox @ericschutte @ct_bergstrom
But that’s stupid. I thought the evil 😈 guy’s are smart 🤷♂️
@ct_bergstrom If it’s not “available” to me I plan to lie and get it anyway.
One of the big takeaways from #covid is that the CDC isn’t going to prioritize our health over, say, economic concerns, so it’s everyone for yourself
The vaccines and, for perhaps 3/4 of the US population, prior infection, have held up remarkably well across variants.
I think this, along with increasing government neglect of public health, have contributed to the lack of booster campaigns.
"Across age groups, VE was generally similar against BA.5-related infections and XBB/XBB.1.5-related infections."
This report describes how a bivalent mRNA booster dose provided additional protection against symptomatic XBB/XBB.1.5 infection for at least the first 3 months after vaccination in persons who had previously received 2–4 monovalent vaccine doses.
@[email protected] The vaccines and, for perhaps 3/4 of the US population, prior infection, have held up remarkably well across variants. I think this, along with increasing government neglect of public health, have contributed to the lack of booster campaigns. "Across age groups, VE was generally similar against BA.5-related infections and XBB/XBB.1.5-related infections." https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7205e1.htm
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