New COVID-19 booster vaccine has been approved: What you need to know

Ema Sasic, Palm Springs Desert Sun
·4 min read
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A new COVID-19 booster shot is available for everyone 6 months and older.

A new COVID-19 booster has been approved by federal agencies and will soon be available to everyone 6 months and older in the country.

The Food and Drug Administration and a federal advisory panel signed off on the vaccine earlier this week. The booster has been updated to target more recent variants of the COVID-19 virus. Although the variant targeted by the new shots is no longer the most commonly circulating one, studies have suggested that the new vaccines will be effective against current variants.

Here's what you need to know about the latest COVID-19 booster.

Who should get boosted?

Everyone ages 6 months and older is recommended to get a COVID-19 booster shot.

  • Everyone ages 5 and older is eligible to receive a single dose, regardless of whether they have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine before. People who recently got a COVID vaccine should wait at least two months before getting the booster.

  • Infants and younger children (6 months through 4 years) who have previously been vaccinated against COVID-19 are eligible to receive one or two doses of the updated vaccine. The timing and number of doses depends on their previous COVID-19 vaccination.

  • Unvaccinated infants and younger children are eligible to receive three doses of the updated Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine or two doses of the updated Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

  • Other people who should get the vaccine are those who are 65 or older; pregnant people; and those younger than 65 who have conditions that affect their immune system, or are taking immune-suppressing medications.

When and where will boosters be available in the desert?

The California Department of Public Health said in a statement initial supplies are expected in the state in the coming weeks. Vaccine appointments can be scheduled by using MyTurn.ca.gov or by contacting your local pharmacy or health care provider.

Jose Arballo Jr., Riverside County Public Health spokesperson, said the new vaccine is subject to commercialization and will be available on open market. As a result, that refines how the state and county public health departments allocate and distribute the doses. He said that pharmacies eligible for the Bridge Access Program, which provides vaccines to underinsured or uninsured adults, will begin to receive their doses likely in the next few weeks.

Corporate pharmacies and pharmacies not eligible for the program will privately purchase doses on their own and will be working with wholesalers and shipping processes. Doses should be arriving by end of September for those entities, he added.

How effective is the booster?

The updated vaccine booster is aimed to protect against COVID-19 variants that are currently circulating, such as omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 and possibly BA.2.86, a rare new variant that CDC is closely monitoring.

People vaccinated with Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine, which includes a component that corresponds to the XBB lineage, showed a strong immune response against some of the variants that are common now (XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and FL.1.5.1), according to the CDC. They also experienced a boost in COVID-19 immunity − antibody responses after vaccination were about 17 times higher against XBB 1.5 and about 10 times higher against BA.2.86 compared to before vaccination.

Are vaccines covered by insurance?

COVID-19 vaccines will continue to be free for most Americans through their health insurance plans, including Medi-Cal and regular health care providers. The CDC’s Bridge Access Program will provide limited quantities of COVID-19 vaccines to uninsured and underinsured adults through December 2024. The Vaccines For Children program is a federally funded program that provides vaccines at no cost to children (18 years and younger).

What are COVID-19 rates like locally?

The COVID-19 positive rate has remained around the same rate over the last few weeks in Riverside County. The seven-day rate was 14.4% as of Sept. 8, down 1.6% from the previous week.

Riverside County has retired its COVID-19 dashboard because the state is updating its reporting metrics. For the latest COVID-19 data, visit https://covid19.ca.gov/state-dashboard/#location-riverside

Variant EG.5 is the most common in the United States, according to CDC data, but it accounts for only about 22% of cases, with another half-dozen variants each accounting for 5% or more. All are part of the omicron family of variants, which began spreading globally around Thanksgiving 2021.

USAT Today contributed to this report.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Where can you get the latest COVID-19 booster in Riverside County?