Two Philadelphia doctors explain why COVID boosters are necessary | Expert Opinion
They are similar to what happens each year with influenza vaccines, which are made new each year, customized to protect against the flu variants we are most likely to encounter.
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“I’ve had so many boosters. It’s enough already!”
Perhaps you can relate to this most common response from our patients when we ask whether they have received the newest COVID booster shot.
Here’s why this reaction has us concerned:
The newest Pfizer and Moderna COVID booster vaccines to receive emergency-use authorization are not just the same old, same old. They use the same technology used in prior COVID vaccines, which has been proven safe by extensive testing. They are bivalent, meaning “two strains” — mRNA from the original strain, and an additional mRNA to provide more effective immunity against newer omicron variants, currently the most prevalent strains of COVID in the United States.
This is similar to what happens each year with influenza vaccines, which are made new each year, customized to protect against the flu variants we are most likely to encounter. As COVID variants evolve and previous vaccines become less effective, we’ll need updated and improved vaccines.
Another important concern is that the efficacy of most vaccines decreases over time. This hasn’t been a problem with flu shots because influenza is mostly seasonal. By the time your flu shot wears off, warmer months have arrived and the flu is less common. But so far, COVID has come and stayed, so we have to re-up our immunizations periodically to remain protected.
Studies have clearly shown that COVID vaccination protects against serious illness, hospitalization, and death. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that COVID vaccines were associated with 670,000 to 680,000 fewer hospitalizations and 330,000 to 370,000 fewer deaths among Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. in 2021.
Other therapeutics such as antiviral drugs have improved our ability to limit the severity of COVID illness, but vaccines, along with good hygiene and masking when appropriate, are still our best preventive measures.
By the time your flu shot wears off, warmer months have arrived and the flu is less common. But so far, COVID has come and stayed, so we have to re-up our immunizations periodically to remain protected.
As we head into the winter months, we strongly encourage you to socialize safely and start your vaccination series (if you have not already done so), or get “bivalent boosted” — especially if you are over 65 or have a chronic illness. If you had the original vaccine series and boosters, that’s great — but it is not enough.
We can’t wish COVID away. We’ve just got to be smart and stay one step ahead of it.
Jeffrey Millstein is a primary care physician and regional medical director for Penn Primary Care. Keith W. Hamilton is associate professor of clinical medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.