Millions of Americans may now choose to get a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The booster is given to individuals who have received the COVID vaccination after their immunity from the initial dose(s) has begun to naturally fade.
The booster is intended to help people maintain their immunity levels for longer. A number of factors, including your age, occupation, residence, and health, determine whether or not you qualify to receive the booster.
Although the booster appears to be beneficial, there are a number of concerns regarding its effectiveness and safety. This article will examine what you need to know about COVID boosters.
COVID-19 and How You Can Prevent It
COVID-19 is a contagious viral disease that can be fatal. You can get it from another person who has the virus. COVID symptoms include:
- Fever
- Cough
- Loss of taste or smell
- Shortness of breath
- Sore throat
- Nausea
- Runny nose
- Muscle aches
The simplest approach to avoid COVID is not to acquire it in the first place. Taking these precautions can help you avoid getting or spreading the virus:
- When you are out and about, wash your hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer
- Get the COVID vaccine
- Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated areas
- Do not touch your face
- Stay home when you are sick
- When you go out in public, cover your face with a mask
Are COVID-19 Boosters Recommended?
A COVID booster is suggested for those who have already been immunized and have not had a sufficiently strong immune response.
Although the initial vaccines have shown to be quite effective, health officials are now encouraging the boosters, particularly for high-risk groups.
However, the long-term effectiveness of these boosters is still unknown. Because COVID-19 is relatively new, there is not much research to draw from. It is critical to emphasize the demonstrated effectiveness of the initial vaccines.
If people can get their first vaccination, it will be most beneficial. This would save more lives than any increase in boosters. It would also help to reduce COVID healthcare disparities in rich and poor nations.
The World Health Organization (WHO) called for a halt on booster injections until the end of 2021 (with the exception of the immunocompromised).
The Biden administration has said that they will provide countries with low rates of immunization with 500 million more vaccines.
Who Can Get the Booster Shot for COVID-19?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has set the following suggestions for getting the booster. People who are:
- Ages 65 or older
- Ages 18 or older with health conditions
- Residents of long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, who are 18 years older
According to the CDC, individuals who received the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in one of these groups should receive a booster six months after their initial series.
The CDC recommends for those who have received Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine, get a booster at least 2 months after vaccination if you are 18 years or older.
What if I Don’t Qualify for a Booster?
Millions of individuals across the United States still have not received a COVID-19 vaccination booster, owing to new limitations set by federal authorities.
According to experts, if you are in that situation, do not worry too much about getting an extra shot. Keep in mind that you still have good immunity from your first vaccination series. The COVID vaccines are effective and safe, and this remains the case.
Should I Get a Different COVID Booster Than the One I Received Previously?
Are you wondering if you can mix and match the COVID boosters? The CDC accepted the use of mix-and-match COVID-19 boosters for persons at risk of severe illness or infection last week.
Regardless of which vaccine people got initially, any of the three authorized vaccines in the United States — Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech, or Moderna-NIAID — may be given as a booster.
There is currently little scientific evidence to help consumers determine which booster is best for them.
Most of what we know so far comes from a recent study, where experts examined the effects of mixing and matching boosters.
They discovered that each of the booster vaccines enhanced levels of antibodies in the blood, regardless of which vaccine people received throughout their primary immunization schedule.
The CDC and the FDA have both said that when you go to get a booster dose of a vaccine, it is safe to mix or match vaccines.
Any of the three available vaccines may be given as a booster, regardless of which vaccine you took first.
Are the COVID Boosters Safe?
The release of new vaccination booster guidelines raises many questions:
- Will the boosters be upgraded to resist future COVID variants?
- Is it necessary to receive more boosters in the future? If that is the case, how often will you need them?
- What is the nature of the information on how safe boosters are? According to previous reports, boosters appear to be safe, but we require additional data and research.
We do not know for sure how well vaccine boosters work. We need more long-term and comprehensive studies with a wide range of participants from all races and demographics, as well as people who are immunocompromised.
However, before we go any further, it is crucial to remember that vaccinating the unvaccinated should be a higher priority than boosting those who have already been immunized.
This holds true for individuals in the United States who have refused or been unable to get vaccinated, as well as those in areas without easy access to vaccines.
The COVID booster is a vaccine that has been created to give individuals more protection against the virus.
The release of new guidelines on the boosters has raised some questions about whether these boosters are safe and what we need to know about them.
Although COVID boosters have been proved to be beneficial, the research on boosters is still undecided.
The best thing you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones from COVID is to get the vaccine and follow the tips detailed above. We will continue to learn more as additional research is done in the future.
Written by: Emmanuel J. Osemota
Resources:
- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/booster-shots-and-third-doses-for-covid19-vaccines-what-you-need-to-know
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
- https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/covid-19-booster
- https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/25/nation/youre-not-eligible-yet-covid-19-booster-should-you-be-worried/
- https://www.healthline.com/health-news/fda-gives-ok-to-mixing-and-matching-covid-19-boosters
- https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.10.10.21264827v2.full
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/thinking-about-covid-booster-shots-heres-what-to-know-202110072610
- https://www.who.int/news/item/16-09-2021-international-organizations-vaccine-manufacturers-agree-to-intensify-cooperation-to-deliver-covid-19-vaccines
