White House trying to speed up timeline of new fall COVID-19 boosters Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:01)
The White House COVID response team is trying to speed up the timeline for new fall booster shots.

Speaker 2: (00:06)
Medical reporter Liz Bonis shares what that means for people who haven’t had a fourth shot.

Liz Bonis: (00:12)
Hey there everybody. The rapid shift of the variants has been a moving target for infectious disease specialists. The mission now is to speed up the delivery of these newly formulated boosters ahead of a potential late fall and early winter surge.

Liz Bonis: (00:27)
The newest batch of boosters headed your way will include what 90% of people are getting sick with right now according to the CDC, the BA4 and BA5 Omicron variants.

Dr. Ashish Jha: (00:39)
It’s going to be really important that people this fall in winter get the new shot, it’s designed for the virus that’s out there.

Liz Bonis: (00:47)
The US has purchased more than 170 million doses of these Omicron boosters from Pfizer and Moderna. A fourth dose of the original boosters has been recommended for those ages 50 and older, fewer than half of those eligible have had this extra dose according to the CDC. So if you are young and otherwise healthy, it may be better to wait for these newer shots to be available this fall. The hope is that the newer vaccines will continue to keep most people out of the hospital, as it’s been with BA4 and 5 infections now.

Dr. Stephen Blatt: (01:17)
Although there’s a lot of COVID in the community, people aren’t getting sick enough to get admitted for the most part.

Liz Bonis: (01:23)
The shots could be available according to the White House COVID-19 response team in as little as three weeks. But by the time we can get them, we don’t know if BA4 and BA5 will still be making us sick.

Dr. Stephen Blatt: (01:36)
I think we’re hitting the peak on the BA5 wave right now. So the numbers haven’t really gone up in the community over the last two weeks. Haven’t gone down yet, but they’re steady.

Liz Bonis: (01:45)
You see, as kids head back to school and classes begin at colleges and universities, the hope is that an ever evolving virus won’t find so many new hosts that even a new and improved vaccine can’t fight it.

Liz Bonis: (01:58)
Now, if you do get a fourth shot with the current vaccine right now, the concern is that you won’t respond to these newer formulations expected in just a few weeks. And that would mean maybe, perhaps you’re not as protected as possible as we head into a potential surge. I’m medical reporter Liz Bonis. Now, back to you.