Will There Be Another Covid Booster?

Hi folks, it’s Kristen in NYC. As the last round of boosters start to wear off for some, a reader wonders if it’s time for another shot. Before we get to that...

I am up-to-date with my vaccines and booster shots, but was wondering if there will be another (new) Covid booster anytime soon? -Larry

First, we should talk about what it means to be up-to-date with your shots. The majority of Americans — about 85%! — have still not gotten the last booster. In general, people should have had four jabs by now.

“Many people are actually unaware that there is a new bivalent booster,” says Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

A bivalent shot has two vaccines in one shot (the new booster contains 50% of an omicron-specific vaccine and 50% of one matching the original virus). Getting this booster — the booster most Americans have not gotten — is especially important, because it protects against more versions of the virus. As of December just about everyone over 6 months old is eligible for this shot.

“With few exceptions, Americans who have not received a shot since Labor Day are not up-to-date,” says Wallace.

As for whether the circulation of new variants, including XBB.1.5, lead to another booster that requires a special trip to the clinic? For now, that doesn’t seem likely. In September, President Biden announced we have entered a “new phase” of the pandemic. Like the flu shot, Americans will only be recommended to get a single, updated Covid booster in the fall.

“Preliminary data has shown that the bivalent booster is working better than the original version of the vaccine at neutralizing the new variants, and that it is also effective at preventing hospitalizations in those at highest risk for severe illness,” says Wallace.

There are new vaccines in the works, such as nasal sprays, that could do an even better job at preventing not only severe disease, but more mild infections, Wallace says. — Kristen V. Brown