Doses of a retooled COVID booster shot, tailored to help protect against newer variants, are starting to arrive in North Carolina this week.
Federal regulators with the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the updated vaccine booster shot Thursday.
“This vaccine will provide the most up-to-date protection against the latest variants and will help renew your body’s defense system against severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19,” said North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley.
“As the weather gets colder and we spend more time indoors, it is important to know you are protected before you go to gatherings, which means getting your COVID-19 vaccines and boosters,” he said.
The FDA and CDC approved new booster shots from both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.
Who can get the shot?
The Moderna booster shot is available to anyone 18 and older. For the Pfizer booster, it is for people 12 and up. That includes people who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The new boosters will likely be available to younger children in the coming weeks, according to the CDC.
People can get the new coronavirus booster shots two months after they got their initial shots or their last booster, DHHS said.
The updated booster shot is free.
When and where can I get the shot?
The updated booster shot will be available at pharmacies, through public health departments, clinics and hospitals. Most sites will require an appointment to get the shot.
DHHS runs a hotline and website to help people find their shots: Visit MySpot.nc.gov or contact the state’s Vaccine Help Center by phone at 888-675-4567.
How are these booster shots different?
The new booster is called a bivalent vaccine, which defends against the original COVID strain and the new omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, according to DHHS.
Those two recent versions of omicron account for about 90% of COVID cases in North Carolina, DHHS data shows.
“The updated COVID-19 boosters are formulated to better protect against the most recently circulating COVID-19 variant. They can help restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination and were designed to provide broader protection against newer variants,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
“This recommendation followed a comprehensive scientific evaluation and robust scientific discussion,” she said.
How did they change the vaccine so quickly?
“The updated COVID-19 boosters add omicron BA.4 and BA.5 spike protein components to the current vaccine composition, helping to restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination,” according to Wake County Public Health.
Many public health officials say COVID is not going anywhere and people will have to adapt to live with it. It’s possible that COVID boosters will have to change as new variants emerge, similar to how the flu shot changes each year.
The fast turnaround on the new booster shots is because the companies took lessons from updating the annual flu vaccine.
“It relies on safety and efficacy data from initial clinical trials, studies of bivalent boosters, and extensive safety and effectiveness monitoring,” DHHS said.
“These boosters are much like the annual flu shot that is updated every year based on what strain of flu is circulating. The data for these new boosters shows increased protection against BA.4 and BA.5 variants, the most dominant variants of COVID nationally and locally,” said New Hanover County Pandemic Operations manager Jon Campbell.
“The more tailored immunity should help us be better prepared and help prevent severe illness this upcoming winter season,” he said.
What about the annual flu shot?
It is safe to get a flu shot and the new COVID booster at the same time. In fact, public health officials recommend it.
“Many of those who are at high risk for serious flu complications — older people, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems — are also at risk of severe COVID-19 complications,” said DHHS State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Tilson.
“COVID-19 and flu shots can be taken together, and we encourage all North Carolinians to stay up to date on both,” she said.