Experts say the best COVID-19 booster for those at risk is the one at hand
People at high risk of severe disease who have yet to get a second COVID-19 booster should not wait for next-generation, Omicron-targeted vaccines expected in the fall, five vaccine experts told Reuters.
“If you need a booster, get it now,” said Dr. John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College, who co-wrote an editorial on the subject currently under review. U.S. regulators are hoping an updated vaccine that targets the original strain and an Omicron variant will offer broader protection against future variants, and believe a booster that is closest to the circulating version is valuable.
Moore said the evidence he has seen, including at a June U.S. Food and Drug Administration meeting and since, all suggest that the benefit of a BA.4/5 booster compared to the original vaccine is “negligible” in terms of preventing infection. Wachter is not convinced retooled BA.4/5 vaccines will be ready to roll out in two months. “It seems a bit ambitious to me, and even if they hit the timeline, it will probably go to the highest-risk groups first,” he said. “I think it’s probably three or four months away for the average person.”As for the newly authorized Novavax Inc. vaccine, the company has yet to seek approval for its use as a booster.
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