Is there really a Need for Bivalent Booster Doses? Let’s find out
COVID-19 cases have slumped, but people aged 65 and older and those with low immunity must still be wary. In the US, 7 million Americans have weak immune responses, while seniors make up about 53 million of the population. These two categories can still die or get severely affected by the disease. That’s why CDC and FDA recommend bivalent booster shots a second time for them. The second bivalent booster is like the one that came in 2022 fall to fight against the original COVID-19 and subvariants BA.4 & BA.5. Pharma companies like Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech produce these immunizations. Healthcare experts say vaccination has been critical in controlling virus-related deaths and hospitalization. Then, over 1.1 million who died from the disease were in their 50s or so. The mortality rate has been higher in older groups, as per CDC.
Unfortunately, those who took their first bivalent booster dose in the age group 65 or older are just about 42.4% of the total older population. If you look at the vaccination adoption rate in eligible people, it shows just about 17% of them took the first booster. These numbers are bleak. Due to different reasons, the government and behavioral and human resource experts once devised the idea to incentivize people, so they took their vaccines. The situation is much different now, though.
Those interested in second boosters must note that the older monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be available. Bivalent mRNA vaccines have replaced them because of their ability to tackle both ancestral and new strains. There is also a plan to simplify the Coronavirus vaccination process with booster reformulations for the fall season. Those will be available around fall time with the flu shots and target the existing SARS-CoV-2 subvariants.
Is there a need for an additional booster shot?
According to CDC, anyone in age group 6 and more can take the bivalent mRNA COVID-19 jabs, regardless of their primary booster series status. However, if someone has taken the latest shot, they can avoid additional doses. Only older people aged 65 or more and those with weak immunity can opt for this. If you are in the senior age group, you can take the additional booster dose after the primary vaccine. Also, maintaining a gap of four months between two bivalent booster shots is critical. Those with moderate or severe immunity issues can take additional boosters two months from the previous shot. People belonging to immunocompromised include chemotherapy, cancer, and corticosteroid patients.
Why are only some groups eligible for additional boosters?
As mentioned above, the death toll was higher among immunocompromised and older age groups. They also witnessed an increased number of hospitalization and infection cases. Bivalent booster shots administered in the last fall are now losing their effectiveness. One must also know that even unvaccinated people can get one bivalent COVID booster instead of several monovalent vaccines.
Interestingly, eligible groups can take additional bivalent boosters, but some experts don’t recommend them. There is a belief that boosting immune response against older variants may hinder the effectiveness of the newer vaccines that target newer variants.
