COVID-19 Update: When Will Next Vaccine Be Available; Who Should Get It?

A new COVID-19 vaccine is anticipated to be released later this month. However, some groups of individuals will benefit more from it than others.

COVID-19 Vaccine Update

The U.S. has recently experienced a summer spike in cases, with hospitalizations and virus levels in wastewater creeping back up. Many would be interested in learning when they can receive another COVID-19 immunization.

As stated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, whenever the organization approves it, the revised fall COVID booster will probably be accessible around mid-September. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will suggest which populations should receive vaccinations.

An FDA advisory committee convened in June to decide which COVID-causing SARS-CoV-2 strains should be included in the autumn booster. It ultimately chose XBB.1.5, which has dominated the U.S. market for most of this year.

Compared to XBB.1.5, a novel variety termed BA.2.86 recently discovered has more than 35 new mutations. Cases of BA.2.86, which is a descendant of the well-known Omicron variety like XBB.1.5, have been found in the United States, Denmark, Israel, and other nations. Even though SARS-CoV-2 is currently being sequenced and monitored much less closely, the new variety still only accounts for a tiny portion of infections. According to FDA scientists, the fall COVID booster and past immunity should still help protect against major sickness, regardless of whether BA.2.86 is stronger at evading the immune system or causes more severe disease.

Based on the available evidence, the FDA believes these monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccines will offer the best protection against the most severe illness effects brought on by currently circulating variations, should they be authorized or approved.

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Who Will Benefit Most From Fall COVID Booster

For healthy people under 65 who have already received a vaccination or are ill, there is less evidence to support the possible benefits of a second booster. People 65 years of age and older and those chronically sick, immunocompromised, or pregnant would benefit most from the fall COVID booster.

Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiology professor and the Pandemic Center's director at the Brown University of Public Health, admitted that she constantly worries about those who would benefit most from boosters, especially those at high risk for serious illness and those 65 and older as well as those with underlying medical disorders.

Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's vaccine education center, concurs. According to Offit, a member of the FDA's Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Biological Products, we should concentrate on the most vulnerable populations. The objective is not to eradicate all diseases. Instead, the aim is to prevent hospitalizations.

Stanley Perlman, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, added that infants six months of age or older and have not received the primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine are also at elevated risk for the disease. They may benefit from receiving it.

Nuzzo also said that the situation is slightly more nuanced, and the advantages are slightly less obvious for everyone else. There is evidence that short-term boosting raises antibody levels, which may be advantageous. However, she advises waiting to see what the CDC recommends about the new vaccine.