STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to mutate into new variants, the existing COVID-19 vaccines are no longer providing the same protection they once did.
The Moderna and Pfizer two-dose vaccine series’ still offer protection against severe illness and death from COVID-19, but now the vaccine makers are looking to create booster vaccine doses that target the extremely contagious subvariants of omicron, BA.4 and BA.5.
Last week, the White House announced a deal with Moderna for an additional 66 million doses of an enhanced COVID-19 vaccine booster, specifically formulated for the two subvariants.
A deal was also struck with the federal government and Pfizer for 105 million doses of a bivalent booster.
Both Moderna and Pfizer will have to go through the process of submitting paperwork for authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The New York Times reported last week that the Biden administration expects the Pfizer bivalent booster doses – which address both subvariant strains in one shot – to be rolled out this September.
“The vaccines we have are first generation; they’ve done a phenomenal job,” Dr. Liam Sullivan, an infectious disease specialist at Spectrum Health, told MLive.com, SILive.om sister site.
“I don’t even want to imagine what this would be like without the vaccines. It would have been awful. They’ve kept people out of the hospital; they’ve kept people from dying; they’ve been wildly successful, but they can be improved upon too,” Sullivan said.
The federal government shifted its focus to the targeted booster doses instead of authorizing a third COVID-19 booster shot for all adults over 50-years-old.
However, officials said if you can get a booster now you should, and it will not impact your eligibility to get the subvariant-focused booster this fall.
All Americans aged 5 and older are currently eligible for a booster shot five months after receiving the initial two-dose vaccine series; second booster shots of Pfizer or Moderna are still recommended for Americans aged 50 and older who are immunocompromised and at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19.
Since the discovery of the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, new daily cases and hospitalizations have risen to the highest levels in the United States since February.
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