A new Covid-19 vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, and Americans should have access to the new shots in the next few days.
The vaccines come amid one of the worst Covid waves of the past two years. And while dangerous outcomes like hospitalizations and deaths are nowhere near as high as they were at the height of the pandemic, both are still a risk, especially for older people and those with other risk factors like asthma or obesity.
This updated version of the vaccine does not target the currently dominant strain, KP.3.1.1, but rather the immediate predecessors of that variant, including a strain called KP.2. That strain was more widespread when work on the new formulation began; long development times make it difficult for drugmakers to adapt to each new variant.
“Evolution doesn’t pause and we can’t lag behind,” Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Vox. “Evolution is always moving and there’s no way to predict where the virus might spread.”
Still, scientists believe the new drug offers the population at least some protection against severe disease, including from the latest variants. And it may offer some protection against infection, as it targets close relatives of the currently dominant variant.
What you should know about the updated vaccine
So far, two new vaccines have been approved: one from Pfizer/BioNTech and one from Moderna. An update from Novavax is still awaiting approval.
Doses should be available within the week at doctors’ offices and CVS and Walgreens pharmacies across the country; Walgreens will begin offering appointments on Sept. 6. However, the government is no longer purchasing and distributing the vaccine, so it will no longer be available for free. Insurance carriers should cover most, if not all, of the cost of the vaccination, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has a breakdown of what those who pay out of pocket can expect to pay.
The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older receive at least one dose of the vaccine, and high-risk individuals receive two. Other countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, recommend that only people at high risk of hospitalization, severe illness or death from the virus be vaccinated.
Adalja said high-risk people should heed the CDC’s advice: “I’ve always been someone who wanted to make sure that the high-risk population really understands that these vaccines are going to disproportionately benefit them,” he told Vox.
The more risk factors you have – such as advanced age, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, a weakened immune system, pregnancy, asthma and never having been vaccinated or had Covid – the more important it is to get two doses. “All of these people should definitely get vaccinated,” Adalja said.
Although high-risk individuals should be prioritized for the updated vaccines, that doesn’t mean healthy people without those risk factors wouldn’t benefit from vaccination. If you want to avoid infection, this version will likely be better at preventing transmission than previous versions. However, even with the updated vaccine, it’s a good idea to take other precautions, such as wearing a mask in public places.
Covid-19 is now endemic – part of our everyday lives like flu and cold viruses. And it will continue to evolve to evade the body’s defenses, requiring new vaccine formulations. This means that more new vaccine formulations are on the way and that once approved, vaccination will still be the best way to protect against the worst possible outcomes.
