Who is going to get the new COVID shots? How are the new shots different from the previous ones?

The Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to two novel COVID-19 shots. The same approval has also been given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These two vaccines have been developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. These are recommended for everyone 6 months and above. These shots are available at pharmacies across the United States.

COVID cases have arisen in many parts of the United States. While the number of deaths and hospitalizations due to COVID has declined over the last year, it can still turn into a worrisome situation as the virus has mutated into two dozen novel variants. Moreover, the immunity of many people across the country has also declined.

The previous booster was received by less than 20 percent of the Americans. The last booster was designed to safeguard against the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 and the original virus. Talking about the immune system, it does have a strong memory, but the antibodies that are helpful in preventing infections decline majorly in just a few months.

The COVID shots presented right now are a reformulated version and can aid in fighting off the latest subvariant set that is spreading in the United States.

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How are the new shots different from the previous ones?

The bivalent shots from the last fall were designed to safeguard against more than one variant. However, the shots developed by Moderna and Pfizer are actually monovalent in nature. This means that these are capable of safeguarding against just a single variant, which is XBB.1.5. The XBB.1.5 is actually a descendant  of the Omicron that has come up this year itself.

The XBB.1.5 is not a dominant circulating version anymore. However, research states that the new shots should be offering protection against EG.5, along with other variants such as the BA.2.86.

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Pfizer and Moderna have also stated that as per their initial research, the novel COVID vaccines will offer good protection against both BA.2.86 and EG.5. A third monovalent shot developed by Novavax will also be considered by the regulators that will be providing protection against XBB.1.5 in the upcoming months. This Novovax vaccine will work in a different manner from an mRNA vaccine as it is protein-based.

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