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The virus is spreading, but new vaccines coming this fall may offer greater protection. We asked experts about the right time for a booster dose.
By Dani Blum
Patients keep asking the same question to Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco: Is it time to get vaccinated against Covid again?
The virus is circulating in an important part of the country. This may suggest that it’s time to apply another dose of protection. But updated vaccines targeting new variants of the virus are expected to arrive this fall.
Experts have said the right timing for your next Covid shot will depend on your fitness and what you hope to get out of the vaccines.
Doctors say many other people would likely have to wait to receive updated vaccines, which have been developed to offer greater protection against existing dominant strains of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mandates that any child 6 months and older get an updated vaccine as soon as it becomes available.
An upcoming vaccine from biotech company Novavax will focus on JN. 1, a variant of the coronavirus that accounted for the bulk of cases in the United States this winter. Pfizer and Moderna’s launches this fall will focus on KP. 2, a new offshoot of JN. 1 that circulated this summer. The variants for the highest percentage of instances in the United States right now, KP. 3 and KP. 3. 1. 1, are very similar to KP. 2 and JN. 1.
On the other hand, the latest vaccines target the old Omicron variants that disappeared when JN. 1 took over last winter.
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