It feels like such a strange moment in the pandemic. Tens of millions of people are vaccinated and boosted. Covid regulations and protocols have been lifted across America and Europe. The omicron variant has mostly subsided after wrecking havoc throughout the winter months. At times, it genuinely feels like we’re through the worst of it. At other times, it feels like we’re merely in between variants. As soon as western Europe lifted most of the Covid rules, wouldn’t you know, there was a big spike in cases. Specifically, it looks like a new Omicron sub-variant – BA.2 – is tearing through France and the UK and other European countries. BA.2 is already here in America, although it doesn’t seem to be as urgent as it is in Europe.

All of which to say, it’s time to talk about everyone needing a second booster shot. I got my first booster last November, about a week before Thanksgiving. My booster shot came after the CDC expanded booster shots for everyone, especially if you were six months out from your original vaccination. I’ve been thinking this whole time that I would probably need another booster about six months after the first. I was right! And Moderna is asking the FDA for an expanded authorization for their second boosters.

Biotechnology company Moderna on Thursday asked the Food and Drug Administration to allow adults 18 and older to receive a second booster shot of the company’s mRNA vaccine amid concerns that immune protection from the vaccines wanes over time. Moderna’s application is substantially broader than what Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, sought earlier in the week — FDA authorization for a second booster shot for adults 65 and older.

The applications by the makers of the two messenger RNA vaccines, which account for almost all of the vaccines distributed in the United States, are sure to intensify the debate about the durability of the protection afforded by the coronavirus vaccines — a topic that has divided the scientific community.

Both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have said their requests to allow for a second booster shot are based in part on recent data from Israel that shows decreased vaccine efficacy during the omicron surge. Moderna, whose booster application was first reported by the New York Times, is still conducting clinical trials for an omicron-specific booster shot. Studies and real-world data show that booster protection remains strong against severe illness and death but wanes against infections after several months.

Moderna said in a statement Thursday that it requested the second booster shot be authorized for all adults to give the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and doctors more flexibility in deciding which patients might be good candidates for an additional dose of the vaccine.

The decision from the FDA could come relatively quickly, especially if officials conclude the data is straightforward and does not have to be reviewed by a panel of outside vaccine experts. CDC advisers would then weigh in on who should be eligible for a second booster dose, and the CDC director would have the final say on those recommendations.

[From WaPo]

Dr. Fauci says that if you’ve had three shots (two-shot vaccine plus booster) you’re still very protected, although there is evidence of waning protection around the fourth month post-booster. The thing about Pfizer and Moderna’s boosters is that both companies are trying to create an even more tailored booster shot for Omicron and – hopefully – the sub-variants. Especially because fully vaccinated people kept catching Omicron… and surviving, obviously. There was also talk of Moderna and Pfizer trying to combine their Covid boosters with flu shots, so that people could get one shot in the fall and it would protect them from Covid and the flu. I wonder if they’re still working on that for what will likely be our THIRD booster in the fall/winter. Anyway, I can’t wait to get a second booster. If I need to get a shot every six months, so be it. I’m totally fine with that.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.