DALLAS — Staying on schedule with the COVID-19 vaccine can feel like chasing a moving target.
Rules and recommendations for the shot series changed over the last two years as studies revealed the efficacy of different vaccines, new vaccine recipes were released, and federal regulators granted different age groups access to the jabs.
The new bivalent booster, designed to create antibodies against both the original COVID-19 strain and the omicron variant, is now available to adults and kids 6 months and older, although people’s eligibility for this updated dose depends on which vaccinations they’ve already had and when they got their last shot.
COVID-19 cases are once again rising in North Texas, spurred by the highly contagious omicron subvariants B.Q.1, B.Q.1.1 and XBB, alongside high rates of the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Staying on top of the most recent vaccination schedule is still critical to mitigating the virus’ impact, doctors say.
“I think there’s some degree of vaccine fatigue among everyone, and the novelty with the COVID vaccine has worn off. People may not be necessarily paying attention to what the most current recommendation is,” said Dr. Minji Kang, assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Public health experts expect the coronavirus to become more seasonal in coming years, similar to how flu cases in the U.S. tend to pick up in the winter and decline in the spring. That change could allow for a more predictable vaccine timeline, said Dr. Pedro Piedra, professor of molecular virology and microbiology and of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.
“Time will tell, but I think, ideally, we would like to be able to have something kind of like the flu, where we have an annual vaccination campaign and we have an updated vaccine. How that might look might change from year to year,” Piedra said.
Because COVID-19 is so new, it will likely take some time before updated vaccines are released on a regular schedule. In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about the current COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and when they might change:
The initial vaccine series
Vaccines that combat the original COVID-19 strain have been available for different age groups for either months or years. Still, only about 63% of Texans have completed the initial vaccine series, according to Department of State Health Services data.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized four COVID-19 vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Novavax and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine. However, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is only authorized in certain situations.
—Pfizer-BioNTech: Adults and children 5 and older receive the primary series of the Pfizer vaccine in two doses given three to eight weeks apart. The primary series for children between the ages of 6 months and 4 years is given in three doses. The second dose is given three to eight weeks after the first dose, and the third dose is given at least eight weeks after the second.
—Moderna: Moderna’s initial vaccine series is also approved for people 6 months and older and is given in two doses four to eight weeks apart. Both Moderna and Pfizer shots are mRNA vaccines, meaning they use lab-created coronavirus mRNA to teach cells how to make a protein that triggers an immune response.
—Novavax: Novavax is only authorized for children over the age of 12. The initial series is given in two doses three to eight weeks apart. Unlike the mRNA vaccines, Novavax is a protein subunit vaccine, meaning it contains proteins of the virus that causes COVID-19 and an adjuvant that helps the immune system respond to those proteins.
—Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen: Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine is only available for adults 18 and older who are unable to get the Moderna, Pfizer or Novavax vaccines because of medical concerns or because of limited access to the other vaccines.
