The new COVID shot is now available. Here's what you need to know
It’s that time of year again.
New COVID-19 shots are now available all over the country.
The Food and Drug Administration has greenlighted three updated vaccines — the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots, and now a third one from Novavax, which was just authorized by the FDA on Friday.
All three aim to help protect people from the latest strains of the virus, which may come as a relief to those who’ve tried to dodge a summer surge in cases, fueled by the FLiRT variants.
Whether or not you decide to rush out and get the vaccine could depend on a few factors, including when you last had COVID-19 and your underlying risk of getting seriously ill.
What exactly are these new shots?
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines rely on the same mRNA technology as the earlier versions of the vaccine, but they now target the KP.2 variant – a member of the omicron family that rose to prominence over the summer.
The Novavax vaccine, which is based on an older technology, targets an earlier strain of the virus called JN.1.
As many of us know by now, the virus continues evolving to better evade our immune defense, which means regularly updating the vaccines to keep up with the latest strain.
It turns out the KP.2 and JN.1 variants have already been overtaken by newer variants. Because those are also descendants of omicron, the hope is that the new vaccines are close enough matches that they can still boost immunity and protect people in the coming months – ideally reducing the chances of a big winter wave.
“The vaccine is not intended to be perfect. It’s not going to absolutely prevent COVID-19," Dr. Peter Marks from the FDA told NPR in an interview.
"But if we can prevent people from getting serious cases that end up in emergency rooms, hospitals or worse — dead — that’s what we’re trying to do with these vaccines.”
On average across all age groups, the two mRNA vaccines should cut the risk of having COVID-19 by 60% to 70% and reduce the risk of getting seriously ill by 80% to 90% during the three to four months after receiving the shot, Marks says.
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-...1-5082372/updated-covid-vaccines-fda-approved