The New COVID Booster Shot Could Save Your Life; Get One Now, FDA Expert Says

COVID is once again not-so-gently raping at the door as the weather gets cold and people spend more time indoors.

There are roughly 38,000VID cases a day in the U.S., but a lot of new Omicron subvariants could cause another surge. New bivalent booster shots are the best way to protect yourself. The original strain of the virus that causes COVID is the target of the new boosters. They are expected to give broad protection against newer versions.

Over time, immunity from previous infections or vaccinations fades. People with underlying health conditions are particularly vulnerable to severe disease. Only a small percentage of people who are eligible for the new boosters have received them.

Hilary Marston is the chief medical officer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and she spoke with Scientific American about the importance of getting a booster shot.

The transcript of the interview has been changed.

Who is eligible for a booster right now?

The weather is getting colder and we are all inside so the importance of booster shots is even more important. We have access to the vaccines that are safe and effective. I encourage people to avail themselves of it because we are very fortunate in this country to have that. The updated Pfizer vaccine is available to all five year olds. The Moderna vaccine is available to people over the age of six. There are some things to keep in mind on that. If you have recently gotten a booster with the original strain, we recommend that you wait two months after that to get the new one. A three-month wait is recommended for people who have recently had an illness.

The wait is recommended by you.

We want to make sure that you get the best immune response from these vaccines. If they are too close together, the concern is that you might not get as much of an immune effect from it, as well as that any safety concern that there could possibly be could be magnified. We are talking about tweaking at the edges of the vaccine, so I want to emphasize that they are safe. The best way to get it is to wait a couple of months.

Only a small percentage of Americans who are eligible have gotten their booster shot. Can you give us your opinion on that?

Do you want to see the numbers go up? It's absolutely true. I think any health care worker would do the same thing as well as anyone who has been following the Pandemic. I feel for the people in the emergency rooms. It is just such a strain that they are going to be there to take care of you. We have more than we could have hoped for at the beginning of the Pandemic and it's frustrating. The boosters aren't getting into arms, that's frustrating

The vaccine has been available to children under five since mid- June. Why don't you think the people are showing up? What are you going to say to parents who don't have a vaccine?

Everyone is making decisions for their own kids. I think it is due to the misconception that COVID is not something to be worried about in kids. That is something that I want to look into. There is no question that the people who are getting very sick from COVID-19 are mostly elderly and unvaccinated. That doesn't mean there's no risk in children.

There's a higher risk of hospitalization and deaths from the flu than there is from the vaccine. I would encourage parents to do the same thing as they would protect their children from the flu. In this country, we were able to get access to these vaccines.

There is the possibility of long-term consequences from getting infections. Even if it is rare, we are trying to understand the risk of long COVID. There will be a number of children affected by long COVID if large populations get infections. These are some things that I would encourage parents to look at as they make a decision on whether or not to get their child vaccine.

There is an increased risk of severe COVID with age. Do you think people over the age of 65 should be given a booster shot?

It's absolutely true. This is the only thing you can do to protect yourself. There are many vaccines available. There is a program that people should be taking advantage of. There is a higher risk in those groups. As we look at the people who are hospitalized and dying from Covid, it's overwhelmingly people who haven't been boosted or vaccined. If you want to get your vaccine, you should go to Covidvaccine.gov and find a local place to get it.

The real-world effectiveness of the updated bivalent booster is unknown.

The ability to generate an immune response is what the FDA authorized. As the data becomes available in the current strains, we are on the lookout. We're going to put that out. It's a good time for people to get the vaccines. Right now, we are about a month away from Thanksgiving. The best time to get your updated vaccine is when you are getting together with your friends and family.

There are a number of new variant circulating. We don't know how the vaccine works against them.

Data is emerging. Over the course of time, the data evolved. We're looking at it closely. The updated vaccines place us in a better position than we would have been if we had just used ancestral strains. We will keep an eye on the amount of immune evasion. The vaccine's protection against disease is the most important thing here. People can only do that if they get the shots.

Is there a message that people don't know about?

The best way to protect yourself from the flu is to get your vaccine and get a flu shot. When Halloween came around, one of the best clinical teachers I had told people to get their flu shots. We are in that moment. Every year, we should make sure we protect ourselves against the flu. There is a chance that this could be a bad season. Please do that. Get your vaccine as well. It is easy for people in the U.S. to get both vaccines. Don't be afraid to do it.

The vaccine program has been focused on health equity and trying to make sure that all people have access to the vaccine. Ensuring that you have a treatment plan for vulnerable populations is something we will continue to emphasize, particularly for people who are immune compromised. Make sure that you talk to your doctor if the home test shows a positive result, so that you know what to do if it shows a negative result.

Black and Latino people had less access to vaccines in the early days of the Pandemic. The white population, which is more skeptical of vaccines, is less likely to bevaccinated. Can you give us your opinion on that?

Access was the first issue that needed to be solved. It's the most difficult barrier to access that you can have. We are not in that situation now. Combating misinformation is the next obstacle. We want to make sure that people have the best information to make their own decisions about protecting their loved ones.