{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Health Literacy Philippines","provider_url":"https:\/\/healthliteracyasia.com\/ph","author_name":"logesan","author_url":"https:\/\/healthliteracyasia.com\/ph\/author\/logesan\/","title":"How often should people get COVID boosters? - Health Literacy Philippines","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Cv6SvbaqU0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/healthliteracyasia.com\/ph\/2023\/09\/27\/how-often-should-people-get-covid-boosters\/\">How often should people get COVID boosters?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/healthliteracyasia.com\/ph\/2023\/09\/27\/how-often-should-people-get-covid-boosters\/embed\/#?secret=Cv6SvbaqU0\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;How often should people get COVID boosters?&#8221; &#8212; Health Literacy Philippines\" data-secret=\"Cv6SvbaqU0\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/healthliteracyasia.com\/ph\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/healthliteracyasia.com\/ph\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/12\/Patient-with-vacine-scaled-1.jpg","thumbnail_width":2560,"thumbnail_height":1440,"description":"The CDC and FDA have decided that one updated COVID booster is enough for now, in contrast to recommendations from other countries and global health organizations Many people in the U.S. who are fully vaccinated and boosted for COVID have been waiting\u2014eagerly in some cases\u2014to receive another layer of protection as they pass the six-month mark after their last booster in fall 2022. But most will have to continue to wait. Late last month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention upheld its existing COVID vaccination recommendations: the agency says that just one dose of the latest updated booster, often called the bivalent booster, is necessary for now. The Food and Drug Administration has also only authorized the same one-dose booster. This contrasts with official guidance in other countries. In early March Canada and the U.K., for example, began offering an additional booster dose to certain populations at high risk of severe COVID, including elderly people, residents of long-term care facilities and immunocompromised individuals. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends countries consider an additional booster six or 12 months after the last for older adults, those who have comorbidities or who are immunocompromised or pregnant, and frontline health care workers. The WHO also says healthy children from six months to 17 years old may not need any additional boosters. \u201cThe messaging could get very confusing,\u201d says William Schaffner, a preventive medicine and health policy professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who is a consultant to the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). \u201cOne of the most difficult things I\u2019ve learned during this pandemic is how hard it is for the general public to live with changing recommendations over time. They would like a definitive answer now.\u201d This uncertainty has created challenges for both the public and those in the health care field, including members of the ACIP. What do these recommendations mean for people\u2014especially those at high risk of developing severe COVID\u2014who want the extra layer of protection? Scientific American spoke to experts to find out what is and isn\u2019t known about the immunity levels conferred by COVID boosters, what it means to get an additional booster outside the recommendations and what the situation might look like by this fall. How do the current bivalent vaccination rates factor into the new guidance? The bivalent booster now available in the U.S. came out in September 2022. It was formulated to cover the COVID-causing virus\u2019s Omicron strains BA.4 and BA.5 and the original strains from 2020. After an initial wave of people received the booster in the fall and early winter, the rate of vaccinations has dropped. A number of fully vaccinated and boosted people would like another booster for additional protection, Schaffner says, but a much larger population has not yet received any booster at all. Only 16.7 percent of the U.S. population (about 55 million people) have had the latest one\u2014far fewer than officials had hoped. \u201cThat\u2019s clearly been a source of considerable disappointment to everyone in public health,\u201d Schaffner says. \u201cThe current public health thrust is not to give people an additional booster but to get people to take the first bivalent booster.\u201d The CDC says it continues to monitor emerging data but maintains its recommendation of one updated COVID vaccine for eligible people aged six months and older. \u201cToo few people, particularly those who are older and at high risk for severe COVID-19, have taken advantage of getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine. And we encourage eligible individuals to speak with their health care provider and consider receiving one,\u201d says CDC representative Kristen Nordlund. Scientists in a vaccine working group within ACIP presented data in February that show vaccination uptake has declined after each official recommendation of an additional dose. The scientists pointed to several factors, including vaccine and COVID \u201cfatigue\u201d and a perception that initial vaccinations have provided enough immunity. What do we know about the bivalent booster\u2019s effectiveness and immunity levels? The latest studies show the bivalent boosters effectively protect against severe disease and death. The CDC reported in February that mortality rates among people who received a bivalent booster were 14 times lower than in those who had never been vaccinated and three times lower than in people who received the original COVID vaccination series but no booster. Other early estimates also indicate the bivalent booster increases protection against two of the latest Omicron strains, XBB and XBB.1.5, for at least the first three months after vaccination in people who had previously received at least two of the past monovalent vaccine doses. Notably, the bivalent shots are especially effective against COVID-associated hospitalization in older adults. But U.S. residents older than age 65 have been getting this booster at lower-than-expected rates\u2014just 42 percent of that population has gotten it\u2014says Carlos del Rio, a clinician and epidemiologist at Emory University. \u201cIf you\u2019re telling me you\u2019re 40 and you have no underlying conditions, it\u2019s probably not an urgency to get another booster,\u201d del Rio says. \u201cBut if you\u2019re over 65, that\u2019s a problem.\u201d Less is known about how long immunity lasts after receiving the bivalent vaccinations. ACIP\u2019s COVID vaccine working group, however, says its information on the original monovalent series and boosters suggests protection against hospitalization starts waning four months after a person receives the dose. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t go to zero,\u201d Schaffner says. \u201cAfter a period of months, it might go from 90 percent to 70 percent. So from a population basis, there still is substantial protection out there.\u201d On an individual basis, however, waning protection gets more complicated\u2014especially in high-risk groups. Studies have demonstrated that monovalent COVID vaccine effectiveness in certain immunocompromised people, particularly organ or stem cell transplant recipients, is lower than in others. \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be appropriate for [high-risk groups] to receive a spring or summer booster if it\u2019s been five or six months since they have received the initial bivalent booster? It\u2019s a perfectly reasonable question,\u201d Schaffner says. Protection appears to be restored after people receive additional doses over time, according to ACIP."}