TAMPA, Fla. — Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved and granted emergency use to Pfizer and Moderna’s updated COVID-19 booster.
Back in June, the FDA advised drug manufacturers to change the vaccine formula to better protect against currently circulating variants.
“There shouldn’t be a big production problem because we’ve already decided months ago what was going to be in this vaccine,” said Dr. Jill Roberts with the USF College of Public Health.
These new, updated shots now target omicron’s KP.2 strain, which is one of the highly contagious FLiRT variants.
Right now, omicron’s KP.3.1.1 strain is making up the majority of new COVID cases in the US, according to the CDC.
Since that mutation is one of the FLiRT variants, doctors believe the vaccine will still provide good protection.
“What we know is the COVID booster or the vaccine is similar to the flu vaccine or many other vaccines. In that, it helps us prevent the worst of symptoms,” said Dr. Raj P. Kotak, Chief Medical Officer of AdventHealth Carrollwood.
Across the country, COVID-19 cases remain high as we’re still in a summer surge.
Doctors predict cases will start to decrease soon, but believe the vaccines are coming at a crucial point to limit spread and severity as we enter the fall months.
“Should be on target for September release. I would recommend getting both—your flu shot, your COVID shot—at the same time,” said Roberts.
The CDC has recommenced that everyone six months and older should receive an updated COVID-19 booster.
Federal health officials encourage anyone who’s eligible to get the vaccine once it’s available.
“What I would recommend is to continue to get it as you would any other preventative vaccine. And that way, you could hopefully avoid a place where I work in the hospital or something significant where, without a vaccine, it may not have given you the immunity or the benefit of trying to protect against a significant or a severe event,” said Kotak.
Experts expect the vaccine to be in pharmacies across the US in the coming days.