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You Can Expect A New COVID Shot This Fall. Here's What To Know
A health worker administers a COVID shot to a woman at Ted Watkins Memorial Park in Watts.
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Ashley Balderrama
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for LAist
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Topline:
COVID cases in Los Angeles County have been creeping up since July. A new COVID-19 vaccine has been tweaked to target Omicron subvariants going around. “These vaccines will be updated with the goal of providing the best protection against currently circulating strains,” a CDC spokesperson told LAist.
When will it be available? The CDC expects the updated vaccine rollout to begin mid to late September, meaning pharmacies will likely start offering them in October, but who will be eligible for the shot is still up in the air.
What's the hold up? The Food and Drug Administration is waiting on safety data from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna for their respective updated COVID shots. Once the FDA has approved the shot, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will likely call a special meeting to review the data and make recommendations on the dosage size and which age group will be able to get the shots. The CDC told LAist, “The FDA anticipates taking timely action to authorize or approve updated COVID-19 vaccines in order to make vaccines available this fall.”
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What shots am I supposed to have at the moment? People six years of age and older are up to date if they’ve received one bivalent shot. (Your vaccination card can tell you.) Younger children 6 months to five years old need multiple, smaller doses of the vaccine to be up to date. You can find more information from the CDC here, and ask your pediatrician any questions
Will their be another rush? Probably not. Uptake of the bivalent booster shots has been low. Only 17% of the U.S. population has gotten an updated booster, according to the CDC. In L.A. County, 18% of people six months and older have received the shot.
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