MICHIGAN, USA — As fall and a typical respiratory virus season approaches, many may be wondering when, or if, they should get a new COVID-19 vaccine booster.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), those over the age of 12 who were previously vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines before Sept. 12, 2023, should get an updated vaccine. There are other guidelines depending on age and vaccine status.
However, in June, the CDC issued a new recommendation for everyone six months and older to get a new, updated COVID-19 vaccine that will be available later this year.
These updated vaccines will be available from Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer. The new recommendation will take effect once they are on the market.
"We know that after you get a vaccine, or even after you have an infection, your immunity is highest for the few months after that infection or that vaccine," said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical officer for the State of Michigan. "If we want to keep you most protected over the winter season, it's important to get the booster timed just right. We usually tell people to get flu vaccines in October, and I would say the same is generally correct for COVID-19 vaccines as well."
Omicron subvariant FLiRT strains are making up the majority of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. currently. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month offered advice to manufacturers of the vaccines to target these strains in their vaccines.
Bagdasarian said Michigan is seeing a slight surge in COVID cases, although it's not as high as previous surges in 2020 or 2021.
"The reason why everyone is being a whole lot more relaxed about where we are right now, it's not so much because the virus has changed, it's because we have changed," said Bagdasarian. "In 2020, when this virus first came our way, no one had immunity to this virus. We had no immunity at all and so, people were very, very vulnerable."
She said now, Americans are better equipped to handle the challenges and symptoms the virus brings.
"But now, the vast majority of Americans have either had a previous infection or a previous vaccine, or maybe both, or maybe multiple infections and multiple vaccines, and that gives us a different level of immunity as a population," Bagdasarian said. "That means that we are not as vulnerable, but we still wanted to take those general precautions."
Current CDC guidelines also suggest those over the age of 65 to receive an additional dose of an updated COVID-19 vaccine at least four months after the previous dose.