Don't put it off: Medical experts advise to get new COVID-19 booster shot
WORCESTER — Dr. Matilde Castiel delivered a direct message that it’s important to get the new COVID-19 booster shot that protects against the highly contagious omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
Castiel, Worcester’s commissioner of Health and Human Services, rolled up her sleeve Wednesday and got the booster approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and endorsed earlier this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I got (the booster) yesterday, and it’s a good idea for others to get it,” Castiel said.
Especially, with the BA.5 omicron subvariant flying around, said Dr. Robert Klugman, an internal medicine physician at UMass Memorial Health.
“BA.5 has real staying power. It’s the predominant variant right now,” Klugman said.
Both Castiel and Klugman weighed in on a number of questions related to the new booster, including who should get it, who shouldn’t, and what should the parents of kids 12 and younger — who aren’t eligible for the new booster — be thinking to protect their children against COVID-19.
Who should get it?
Everyone who is eligible, Castiel said.
That means anyone 12 and older who elects to go with the Pfizer-BioNTech booster, and 18 and up for those who choose Moderna.
Anyone over 60 with multiple medical problems, which lumps them into the category of those at highest risk of severe COVID-19 illness, should get the new booster, Klugman said.
“It’s prudent to get it,” he said, not just for high-risk folks, but also for those who are out socializing in areas where they could potentially get exposed to the BA.5 subvariant.
“It makes sense to get protected against the BA.5 variant that is generally holding court and maintaining dominance in the COVID arena,” he said.
Who shouldn’t rush out to get the booster?
Klugman recommended waiting a couple of months — maybe three or four — for those who recently contracted COVID-19, because of built-up immunity levels in their systems.
Castiel’s recommended waiting period is two months for those who got the original booster after the initial two-shot regimen.
The new booster added omicron BA.4 and BA.5 spike protein components that help restore protection that waned since the original booster was put into people’s arms.
Omicron variants are more transmissible and evade immunity, and the new booster targets those subvariants, said the CDC.
What about kids under 12?
This age group is ineligible for the new booster approved by the FDA, because they’re too young, but the federal agency is combing through the data and could announce a future recommendation for those under 12.
Meanwhile, the original (monovalent) booster is still available for this age group, and Klugman said it’s proven to protect children and healthy young people against serious COVID-19 illness, including BA.4 and BA.5.
As Klugman sees it, the new (bivalent) booster was “rushed a little," because there weren’t robust human trials.
He would like to see more scientific evidence before a bivalent is approved for children under 12.
What about those on the fence?
Castiel doesn’t recommend waiting to get a booster, especially for those with compromised immune systems that face the highest risk of getting COVID-19.
With the winter months approaching — when people are inside, living in close quarters, and in some cases not many wearing a face mask — that’s another reason Castiel cited to encourage the public to get boosted.
Annual, like the flu shot?
Both Castiel and Klugman see a yearly COVID-19 booster becoming a reality.
“It’s highly likely we’ll see some booster (shot) on an annual basis,” Klugman said.
A primary reason is a body’s natural immunity wanes over time, and that is a reason the flu shot is administered annually.
Klugman stressed the importance of getting a flu shot, in addition to a COVID-19 booster, because “flu kills.”
Where to get the new booster?
One location is the Worcester Public Library at 3 Salem Square during its vaccination clinics 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every Wednesday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
Roughly 100 doses of the new booster where administered at the library on Wednesday, Castiel said.
The Worcester YMCA, 766 Main St., also holds a clinic 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Monday.
Plus, the city’s mobile vaccination clinic makes stops through September at various sites, including AIDS Project Worcester, 165 Southbridge St.; Worcester Public Library, 3 Salem Square; and Worcester Senior Center, 128 Providence St.
UMass Memorial Health is waiting on its first shipment of the new booster, so it's currently unavailable for the health system's patients.
UMH continues to offer a free, walk-up COVID-19 testing site at the Mercantile Center on Front Street. It runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays.
Meanwhile, many local pharmacies are stocked with the new booster shots.
“(Pharmacies) have the power with the drug manufacturers, so their patients are already getting the shots," Klugman said.
“(UMass Memorial Health) is waiting on a shipment. Once we get it, patients will be the primary ones to get it. Then health care workers on a limited basis.
“The pharmacies are stocked and ready to go.”
Contact Henry Schwan at henry.schwan@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @henrytelegram
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: COVID-19 BA.4 BA.5 Omicron FDA Worcester health disease virus
