Don’t wait for updated COVID-19 vaccines if you’re high risk, experts say

The longer a person has gone since their last booster, the less protection they have against infection and severe disease, said one expert.

People at high risk of severe disease who have yet to get a second COVID-19 booster should not wait for next-generation, Omicron-targeted vaccines expected in the fall, five vaccine experts told Reuters.

In many countries, including the United States, the BA.5 Omicron subvariant of the virus is surging, but current vaccines continue to offer protection against hospitalization for severe disease and death.

And, as the virus evolves, it is not known what version will be widely circulating in the fall or whether new vaccines – expected to target BA.4/5 in the United States and BA.1 in Europe – will be a good match.

“If you need a booster, get it now,” said Dr. John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College, who co-wrote an editorial on the subject currently under review.

In the United States, regulators have asked Pfizer Inc. with partner BioNTech and Moderna Inc. to develop vaccine boosters that target both the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron cousins, as well as the original virus. They are expected to be ready by October.

Regulators in Europe, meanwhile, have signaled that they would be willing to use whichever Omicron-based booster is available to Europe soonest, which may well be the one aimed at the BA.1 variant that drove last winter’s record surge in infections.

U.S. regulators are hoping an updated vaccine that targets the original strain and an Omicron variant will offer broader protection against future variants, and believe a booster that is closest to the circulating version is valuable.

Given the current surge and people’s waning immunity, experts told Reuters the best booster for those at risk is the one at hand.