#Booster shot side effects pfizer series#

But BA.4 is losing its steam, and other subvariants, like BQ.1, BQ.1.1 (both descendants of BA.5) and BF.7, are quickly gaining ground.Ī big question on the minds of many: Will these new boosters still be able to stand up to other omicron subvariants? The short answer is yes, they should be able to, says the FDA’s Bumpus. it's responsible for about 11.5 percent of new COVID-19 cases, according to the CDC. When the bivalent boosters were being made, omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 were the greatest threats. Will they hold up against new subvariants that are circulating?

#Booster shot side effects pfizer series#

(Much like how you don’t get last year’s influenza vaccine for this year’s flu season.) However, the primary series of the COVID-19 Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will remain the same for now, meaning the first two shots given to people who have not been vaccinated will only contain mRNA components from the original strain of the coronavirus.

Now that the new boosters are available, the older versions will no longer be used.

They contain the same amount of antigen as the original vaccines. This, however, does not mean the updated boosters are a double-dose shot. The other is from omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 variants, which were widely circulating during the summer and early fall. This is “to provide an immune response that is broadly protective against COVID-19,” the FDA says. One mRNA component is from the original strain of the coronavirus. The updated boosters are called bivalent vaccines, meaning they contain not one but two sets of instructions (mRNA) that teach the body to produce antibodies to fight off a coronavirus infection. They are “a really important tool to ensuring that we continue this trajectory toward a life that resembles normal,” Bumpus told AARP. “The major goal continues to be prevention of hospitalization and prevention of serious disease,” says William Schaffner, M.D., a vaccine expert and professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.Īnd these updated boosters are key to that, adds Namandjé N. Some projections say that number could be even higher - upwards of 745,000 hospitalizations averted. Modeling data shows that broad uptake of the new booster shots could prevent more than 100,000 hospitalizations this winter. Infection and transmission rates could go down with the introduction of the revised boosters, experts predict. So could hospitalization rates, which the CDC says have increased among older adults since April 2022. The goal of the updated boosters is to “help restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination” and “to provide broader protection against newer variants,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky, M.D., explained.