those who received a booster dose.
Should you delay a second booster until you want to travel, or until another surge in your area?
A study published April 5 in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that while a second booster in people 60 and older protected against severe illness during a six-week period, protection against infection began to wane after four weeks.
Still, Vardeny, who has done extensive research on flu vaccines, doesn’t recommend trying to outthink the coronavirus.
“If we’ve learned anything about COVID-19, it’s that it’s unpredictable,” she says. “And so, while we may think we can predict the next surge, we truly don’t know when it will occur. And I think if it occurs, we want our immune system to be in the best shape it can possibly be.”
Lee says if you’re 50 or older, in good health, live in an area with a low rate of COVID-19, “and you just want to wait a little bit, I don’t think that’s unreasonable.”
But she doesn’t encourage delaying. Trying to align the timing of a vaccine with variables such as vaccine availability and a person’s individual immunity is “kind of gambling a little bit,” she adds. “It seems a little unnecessary. So I would just go ahead and get it.”
Is it safe to mix and match vaccines?
For people who initially received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, switching to the other brand for a booster is safe, but Lee says there’s not enough information to make a strong recommendation. “I think there is some early data to say that it might be helpful, but it probably isn’t harmful either.”
From a logistical perspective, Vardeny said, people should get whatever is available at their pharmacy.
But she is in favor of the CDC’s advice that people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should switch to an mRNA vaccine for their second booster.
Are the boosters ever going to end?
COVID-19 isn’t going away, Vardeny shares. “I think people should start getting mentally prepared for the fact that this may become endemic, similar to influenza.” And the new normal is likely to include boosters. The FDA could start making decisions on the next phase of boosters as early as May.
Lee, who says too many people still need their first booster or even initial vaccinations, hopes people think of others when making booster decisions.
“My plea is always to focus on the more vulnerable folks in the community,” she adds. Even people who feel strong and healthy, or who already had COVID-19, should be mindful about risks to children younger than 5 who can’t be vaccinated yet and to older adults, she says “Vaccinating everyone helps, especially those who are less able to protect themselves.”
By American Heart Assoication