JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – It’s been nearly a year since the latest COVID-19 booster shot was available, but you’ll soon have a chance to get an updated version.
Both a vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech and a vaccine from Moderna have received the green light from the Food and Drug Administration.
These vaccines are expected to be available in clinics and pharmacies in the next few days, and a protein-based version from Novavax is also expected to be available soon.
Unlike the other two, it is produced in a similar way to the flu vaccine.
Former state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs now works as dean of the John D. Bower School of Population Health at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and is still answering questions about COVID-19, including the booster shots.
“I’ve gotten a lot of interest,” Dobbs explained. “I’ve had a lot of people call me…my own patients and of course people in the community asking when it’s going to be available. When is it going to be available? The demand is still there. So I’m excited that people have access to it.”
The new boosters were approved just as we were in the middle of the latest vaccination wave.
Baptist Memorial Health Care’s medical director of infectious diseases, Dr. Steve Threlkeld, points out that the virus is mutating rapidly.
“This is a descendant of the Omicron variant,” Threlkeld described. “It’s very contagious and that’s why these new variants are taking over each other. The current one is KP 3.1.1.”
But Mississippi State Epidemiologist Dr. Kathryn Taylor knows COVID-19 isn’t as much of a talking point as it was four years ago.
“Unfortunately, people are not always as enthusiastic about getting vaccinated as they were when COVID was new and scary,” Taylor noted. “But you know, we’ve been getting flu shots for years because the flu is always around. The flu can always kill. It’s the same with COVID.”
Many people say they’re not worried about getting the vaccine because they’ve already had the virus. You may wonder how far, if at all, this natural immunity will take you. We asked doctors what to do if you’ve recently had a positive test.
“We know a lot of people have had COVID,” Dobbs said. “Now you have kind of a little mini-outbreak. So, you know, give it a couple of months.”
Dobbs says everyone’s medical history is different, so if you’re unsure, you should always consult your doctor.
“If you have not had the disease for four to six months, it makes a lot of sense to get vaccinated in the hope that it will keep you from getting COVID for a period of months and also protect you from the most severe forms of the disease later on,” Threlkeld added.
Click HERE for more details from the FDA.
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