Experts are calling COVID-19 shots “updated vaccines” to embed the idea of at least two annual jabs: one for influenza, another for COVID-19. In comparison, boosters were created to strengthen resistance during infection spikes rather than an annual campaign.
It will be difficult to stamp out the use of “booster” because the term has become “pervasive,” CDC vaccine advisory committee member Keipp Talbot, MD, told CBS News in September.
Four things to know about the 2024 formulation:
1. The upcoming shots target the KP.2 strain, which is part of the JN.1 lineage. As of July 20, KP.2 and its offshoot KP.2.3 account for 20.4% of COVID-19 cases, according to CDC data.
2. The CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older receive the vaccine.
3. Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax are developing updated formulas. Supply is expected to be available in August or September.
4. Private insurance plans, Medicare and Medicaid cover the updated vaccines. Previously, the CDC’s Bridge Access Program offered free COVID-19 shots for adults who did not have an insurance plan that covered the vaccine, but the program ends in August.
“This year we won’t have the luxury of having the Bridge Program be a safety gap,” Peter Chin-Hong, MD, an infectious disease physician at UCSF Health in San Francisco, told ABC News. “Those who have no insurance, which comprises millions of Americans, will have to be covered by different states’ safety net programs.”
The Vaccines for Children Program will continue, according to the report.
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