Tracking from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that COVID-19 numbers are climbing, with hospital admission rates jumping by more than 21 percent over the recent week of monitoring and an increasing number of COVID-19 tests coming back positive.
Given the uptick in cases, you may be eager to get a COVID-19 booster shot as soon as possible to increase your level of protection against the coronavirus.
For the optimal defense against COVID-19, the CDC recommends people ages 6 months and older stay up to date with their vaccines, which includes everyone 5 years and older getting boosters if eligible. The vaccines are effective at preventing people from getting seriously ill, needing hospitalization, or dying.
Updated vaccines that offer heightened protection against the latest circulating XBB-related coronavirus strains are expected by the end of September, CBS News reports. But that’s still weeks away.
Which raises the question: Get a COVID-19 booster right away or wait?
New Boosters Will Offer Enhanced Protection Against COVID-19
Some health experts are suggesting that people hold off on getting boosted right now and sit tight until the updated shots are available.
“I think that at this point in time, the general public should wait until the new COVID booster comes out because it is a much better match to the variants that are currently circulating in the U.S.,” says Andrew Pekosz, PhD, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
Still, vulnerable groups such as older seniors may want to consult with their physicians and ask if they should get a booster now.
Both Pfizer and Moderna have presented data showing that their new vaccines are well matched to currently circulating omicron sublineages, specifically XBB-related strains, which are now responsible for the majority of current infections, notes the CDC. More recently, both companies revealed that their vaccines effectively target EG.5, one of the latest dominant variants of concern.
Novavax, which makes a protein-based shot instead of an mRNA vaccine like Pfizer’s and Moderna’s, also recently announced that its revised formulation can protect against emerging sub-variants EG.5.1 and several XBB strains.
Dr. Pekosz underscores that those who have already received prior versions of the vaccinations should have protection against severe illness, but those shots may not work as well against the currently circulating variants. On top of that, many people who got their last booster months ago may find that their immunity has waned.
“Because this year’s vaccine [coming out later in September] does match a lot of the currently circulating variants, it will be a really good time for people to get boosted,” Pekosz says.
Vaccine Fatigue May Be a Complication But Cost Shouldn’t Be
Although all evidence suggests that the new vaccines will outperform the old, you may not be feeling super motivated to get boosted. It’s been over three years now since the pandemic began, and vaccine fatigue is real.
People have been dragging their heels when it comes to existing boosters. Only 17 percent of the U.S. population have gotten a currently available booster dose, according to the CDC.
Confusion about cost may also be holding people back. Eric Topol, MD, executive vice president at Scripps Research, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “COVID vaccine manufacturers are going to charge more than $110/dose for the new XBB.1.5 boosters.”
Still, most Americans will be able to get booster shots for free this fall, either through private or public insurance or via a temporary “Bridge Access” program administered by the CDC (free vaccines through the program will not be available after December 2024). The federally funded Vaccines for Children program provides no-cost shots to kids who otherwise wouldn’t get immunized because of inability to pay.
Given that case counts are on the rise now, having to wait for weeks until the new boosters are available is not ideal, Pekosz notes. On top of that, the immune system generally needs a couple weeks to rev up and produce sufficient antibodies after a booster. “Ideally you’d like to get vaccinated before cases increase because you still have a window of time after getting the shot when you could get infected,” he says.
Furthermore, flu season and RSV season will soon be kicking in, and public health officials recommend that eligible people get vaccinations against both illnesses in addition to COVID-19 boosters.
“I think that people, particularly the elderly, need to understand that these three vaccines are all going to be very beneficial,” says Pekosz, adding that there’s no evidence to suggest that getting all three shots at or around the same time is harmful in any way.
