COVID-19 BOOSTER SHOTS

As of Oct. 12, 2022, the new COVID-19 booster recommendations for people ages 5
years and older is to receive 1 bivalent mRNA booster after completion of a monovalent
primary series or previously received monovalent booster dose(s); these
recommendations replace all prior booster recommendations for this age group.

 Recommendations for use of a bivalent Moderna booster dose in people ages 6–

17 years
 Recommendations for use of a bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose in people
ages 5–11 years

The CDC recommends a bivalent (containing components of both the original strain of
the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the omicron variant of the virus) COVID-19 booster for
people ages 5 years and older. The bivalent vaccines, which offer better protection
against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant than the earlier, monovalent vaccines,
have been authorized for use as a single booster dose administered at least two months
after primary or booster vaccination. The monovalent COVID-19 vaccines will no longer
be available for booster doses in patients over the age of 5. However, the monovalent
vaccines will remain available for the primary vaccine series in all patients and for
booster doses in patients younger than 5 years old.

Visit the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine and booster page for more details.

What is a COVID-19 vaccine booster?

A COVID booster shot is an additional dose or doses of a vaccine given after the
protection provided by the original shot(s) has begun to decrease over time. The
booster helps people maintain strong protection from severe coronavirus disease.

Who can get a COVID-19 vaccine booster?

Please read the CDC’s guidelines for individuals who  are not moderately or severely
immunocompromised.
Please read the CDC’s guidelines for individuals who  are moderately or severely
immunocompromised.
What are COVID booster side effects?

After getting vaccinated for COVID-19, you might experience some temporary
symptoms similar to those you might notice when you get a flu shot, such as a sore,
swollen arm where you got the shot. You might run a fever and experience body aches,
headaches and tiredness for a day or two. Chills, swollen lymph nodes can also occur.
These symptoms do not mean you are sick. They signal that your immune system is
responding to the shots and building up protection against the coronavirus.

Where can I get a COVID-19 vaccine booster?

Please check your state or local resources. Retail pharmacies, mobile vaccination

clinics (walk-up) and state and local vaccination sites offer booster appointments. Some
locations may offer walk-up vaccination times.

Should I get an additional COVID-19 vaccine dose if I have a weakened

immune system?

Yes, the CDC has approved an additional dose for individuals who are moderately to
severely immunosuppressed. Please read the CDC’s guidelines for individuals who are
moderately or severely immunocompromised.

What is the difference between a booster and an additional dose?

A COVID-19 booster is given when a person has completed their vaccine series, and
protection against the virus has decreased over time. Depending on the original series
you had, some details will vary. Please review the CDC’s booster guidelines for
details and talk to your health care provider if you are not sure if you meet these
guidelines. Please note, if you receive the Moderna booster, you will receive half of the
original Moderna dose.
An additional dose is administered to people with moderately to severely
compromised immune systems. This additional dose is intended to improve
immunocompromised people’s response to their initial vaccine series. Depending on the
original series given, some details will vary. For more details, please review the
CDC’s information for moderately to severely immunocompromised peopleand
talk to your health care provider if you are not sure if you meet these guidelines.

WHAT IS THE EFFICACY RATE OF EACH

AVAILABLE VACCINE?

At this point, only vaccine efficacy (VE) data is available since “effectiveness” depends on many
different factors and requires a longer observation period.

1. AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine (ChAdOx1-S [recombinant]): 70.4% (95% CI 54.8 to 80.6%)

overall VE against symptomatic COVID-19, 14 days after 2nd dose.

2. Sinovac CoronaVac: 65 to 91% (based on Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey Trials)

3. Gamaleya Sputnik V: 91.6% (95% CI 85.6 to 95.2%) overall VE against symptomatic COVID-19,
21 days after 1st dose; 100% (96% CI 94.4 to 100.0%) VE against moderate or severe cases, 21
days after the 1st dose 

4. Janssen: 66.9% (95% CI 59.0 to 73.4%) against confirmed moderate to severe/critical COVID-19,
14 days after vaccination; 66.1% (95% CI 55.0 to 74.8%) against confirmed moderate to
severe/critical COVID-19, 28 days after vaccination; ~77% effective in preventing severe/critical
COVID-19 occurring at least 14 days after vaccination and 85% effective in preventing severe/critical
COVID-19 occurring at least 28 days after vaccination

5. Bharat BioTech: 80.6% (95% CI 78.1 to 82.7%) overall VE against PCR-confirmed symptomatic
COVID-19, after the 2nd dose

6. Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2): 95% (94.7%, 95% CI 90.3 to 97.6%) against symptomatic COVID-
19, 7 days after 2nd dose

7. Moderna (mRNA-1273): 94.1% (95% CI 89.3 to 96.8%%) overall VE against symptomatic COVID-
19, at least 14 days after the 2nd dose; 100% VE against severe COVID-19.

BOOSTER SHOTS DO NOT WORK

Two studies are raising doubts about whether the new omicron BA.5 booster really will
offer better protection against Covid than the first generation shot.

Scientists at Columbia University in New York City found the new boosters did not
produce a better antibody response in humans against BA.5 than the first-generation
vaccines. A separate study by scientists at Harvard essentially came to the same
conclusion.

“It’s important to note that the two studies were done independently. They’re small
studies but there are two of them —it’s not just a fluke,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, the lead
author of the Harvard study. Barouch’s lab played a pivotal role in the development of
the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine.

Both studies were published as preprints, which means neither has undergone peer
review by others in the field. They analyzed samples from small groups, 21 people in
the Columbia study and 18 in the Harvard study, who received the new boosters and
compared them with individuals who received the old vaccine as their fourth shot.

Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division, said
the preliminary studies are subject to limitations because of their size. Data from larger,
well-controlled studies are expected soon, Marks said. Pfizer and Moderna are currently
running clinical trials on the new boosters that are expected to read out data later this
year.

Marks said the Harvard and Columbia studies also indicate that the new boosters are
generally at least as good as the original vaccines at generating an immune response to
omicron BA.5. If the boosters are only modestly better than old shots, it would still have
positive consequences for public health, Marks said.

“Thus, FDA continues to encourage eligible individuals to consider receiving an updated

vaccine to help protect against the currently circulating COVID-19 variants and the wave
of COVID-19 that appears to be coming,” Marks said.

Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA’s independent vaccine advisory committee, said
public health officials should be cautious about overselling the shots as a major
upgrade.

“We have to be careful when we get in front of the American public and try and sell this
vaccine as something that’s significantly better when all the evidence we have so far
doesn’t support that,” said Offit, an infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia, who worked on the team that developed the rotavirus vaccine.

Offit said the boosters work, they’re probably just not better than the old shots. In other
words, vaccine recipients probably get the same level of protection that would come
from a fourth dose with the first generation shots, he said.

“The take home lesson is the people who were in high risk groups and benefit from
booster doses as we enter this late fall and early winter – those who are
immunocompromised, who have high risk medical conditions, who are elderly — they
should get this booster dose,” said Offit, who is not affiliated with either study.

The Columbia and Harvard studies were well done, and come from from two of the best
virology labs in the country, said Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of vaccine development at
Texas Children’s Hospital. But he described the results as preliminary.

“We have to be careful not to draw too many conclusions from it,” said Hotez, who also
co-led a team that developed a patent-free vaccine called Corbevax that India
authorized for use last December.

Hotez said there should also be investigations into how the boosters perform against
emerging omicron subvariants such as XBB and BQ.1., as the currently dominant BA.5
declines in circulation. It could be the case that the new boosters perform better against
these emerging variants than the first generation shots do, Hotez said.

SIDE EFFECTS
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo ignited a furor this month when, based on a
state analysis purporting to show COVID-19 vaccines were linked to cardiac deaths in
young men, he advised men ages 18 to 39 to steer clear of the shots. Scientists
slammed his warning and decried the eight-page analysis, which was anonymous and
not peer reviewed, for its lack of transparency and flawed statistics.

Still, COVID-19 vaccines do have a rare but worrisome cardiac side effect. Myocarditis,
an inflammation of the heart muscle that can cause chest pain and shortness of breath,
has disproportionately struck older boys and young men who received the shots. Only
one out of several thousand in those age groups is affected, and most quickly feel
better. A tiny number of deaths have been tentatively linked to vaccine
myocarditis around the world. But several new studies suggest the heart muscle can
take months to heal, and some scientists worry about what this means for patients long
term. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered vaccinemakers Pfizer
and Moderna to conduct a raft of studies to assess these risks.

Earlier this month, a team from Kaiser Permanente Northern California and the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the risk of myocarditis or
pericarditis—inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart—was about one in 6700
in 12- to 15-year-old boys following the second vaccine dose, and about one in 16,000
following the first booster. In 16- and 17-year-olds, it was about one in 8000 after the
second dose and one in 6000 after the first booster. Men ages 18 to 30 have a
somewhat elevated risk as well.
Although vaccines demonstrate effectiveness against this disease, vaccine hesitancy
reveals concerns towards short-term and long-term side effects or adverse reactions
such as post-inoculation death. Mandatory vaccination is used to provide herd
immunity, but is refutable due to infringement of human rights and autonomy.
Furthermore, the evidence testifies that vaccination cannot guarantee prevention of
infection or re-infection, resulting in public resentment against this coercive measure,
whilst post-inoculation anxiety continues.