The new COVID-19 booster arrives in Illinois. How is it different from the previous booster

Booster shots formulated to fight the newest variants of COVID-19 recently became available in central Illinois. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the new boosters.

How is the new shot different from the previous COVID-19 booster?

The new Pfizer and Moderna boosters are bivalent, which means they combat both the original strain of COVID-19 and the newer BA.4 and BA.5 strains, said Dr. Douglas Kasper, a Peoria-based infectious disease expert and section head of infectious disease at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria.

“It's an enhanced version of both original Pfizer and Moderna,” he said.

The new boosters prompt cells in the body to build a spike protein of both the ancestral strain of COVID-19 and the slightly different spike protein of the BA.4 and the BA.5 strains. Just like the original COVID-19 shots, both Pfizer and Moderna have created their own formulations of the vaccine. Unlike the first round of COVID boosters when doctors encouraged patients to switch vaccine brands to get the best protection against the virus, the advice now is to choose the brand which was best tolerated, said Kasper.

“If they were down a couple days with the Moderna, they might want to try Pfizer to see if it’s more tolerable, or if they did extremely well with one of them, and that makes them more comfortable, then do that,” he said. “We want the BA.4 and 5 coverage. The original mRNA vaccines are not effective with the current circulating strains.”

Who should get the new COVID booster?

People 65 and older and people with medical conditions are encouraged to get the new booster.

“The benefits of vaccination remains strongest in our older population,” said Kasper. “People who are really immunocompromised or have chronic medical illness are still also recommended to strongly consider the vaccine... After that it goes into more of this personal decision-making model.”

Kasper said healthy, younger people should consider getting the vaccine.

“It is available, it is approved. It should be a discussion in light of how you did with prior vaccines and how many times you’ve had COVID, and all the things that play into the timing of it,” he said.

Unlike the previous version of the vaccine, the new formulation has not undergone clinical trials in humans. This version of the COVID vaccine was tested in the same way the flu vaccine gets tested each year – through animal studies.

“We do this every year with influenza vaccine, where we adjust the vaccine to the seasonality of the virus and we don’t re-run clinical trials in humans every year. So, it’s not out of line with how we approach vaccine strategies for other things we commonly do,” said Kasper.

But the lack of human trials has led to a lack of clinical data about the booster’s protection, durability, and duration in humans, said Kasper.

“We have animal model studies in mice that showed that receiving the bivalent vaccines led to robust antibody production against BA.4 and BA.5. So that’s been correlated to be the same in humans, and that it will provide effective coverage,” he said.

Where can I get the bivalent COVID-19 booster shot?

Commercial pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS are offering the bivalent vaccine.

The Tazewell County Health Department just started offering Pfizer’s bivalent vaccine Sept. 12. It will be available on Mondays by appointment, 309-929-0294. The Peoria County Health Department has also started providing the new booster by appointment, 309-679-6655.

Like previous COVID-19 vaccinations, the new boosters are being administered at no cost to the recipient.

Leslie Renken can be reached at (309) 370-5087 or lrenken@pjstar.com. Follow her on Facebook.com/leslie.renken.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: What you need to know about the new COVID booster available in Peoria