First Covid-19 booster vaccines targeting specific variant are now available, this is what experts says about the updated vaccines
OMAHA, Nebraska – The first COVID-19 shot that targets a specific strain different than the original strain is now available. This shot was developed in Omaha.
How frequently will there be a change in the shots? How frequently do you anticipate needing one?
On the CDC vaccine card, there are only six available slots for you to record your COVID shots. According to the opinions of several experts, that won’t be sufficient since new vaccines continue to be developed in order to combat newly discovered virus strains.
“The objective is to make COVID boosters something that happens every year. Therefore, similar to the seasonal flu shot, you will require a booster shot each fall. Dr. Melissa St. Germain, Vice President of Children’s Physicians and Urgent Care, shared the following statement: “The goal is to make it such that you get a COVID booster every fall as well.”
However, COVID is not concerned with the changing of the seasons.
According to Dr. Mark Rupp, Chief of the Division of Infectious Disease at UNMC, “there really is no evidence that COVID-19 is following any kind of seasonality.”
Because the virus is biologically programmed to evolve and multiply, it frequently gives rise to new strains. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been more than five dominant variations of COVID as well as subvariants.
Dr. Rupp stated that “if the past is a prediction of what is going to happen in the future, then yes, I think we should expect…some variant to develop” (if the past is a forecast of what is going to happen in the future).
Similar to how influenza vaccinations work, the COVID vaccine is manufactured in such a way that it makes it very simple to target particular strains of the virus in the future.
According to Dr. Rupp, “the beauty of the mRNA vaccine platform is that it allows for reasonably quick changes to be made to the mRNA message that is transmitted to your body.”
“This is going to look a lot like the influenza virus, which is why we give young children their first dose of the influenza vaccine in two separate injections spaced out over the course of a year. This helps them build up their protection.” Following that, you will only receive one each year for every year after that. According to Dr. St. Germain, “the COVID vaccinations are very likely going to look very similar to that.”
Therefore, even if the specialists are unsure of when a new version will emerge, they advise that you prepare yourself for it. In addition to that, strain-specific boosters will likely continue to be developed.
