Coronavirus Watch: When should you get a COVID booster?
How often do you need a COVID booster?
Once a year, according to Yale researchers who examined the long-term outcomes from a booster schedule. They found that annual boosters will prevent huge outbreaks while not putting an undue burden on people.
Data shows boosters reduced infections by:
- More than 93% when given twice a year
- 75% when given once a year
- 55% when given every year and a half
- 24% given every three years
You're going to be hearing a lot about boosters this week. That's because on Thursday, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is meeting to update guidelines for COVID-19 vaccinations.
They won't vote on how often to get shots, but you can expect lots of discussion and other nuanced changes to keep the vaccines up to date and make the process less confusing. You can watch a livestream of the meeting here.
Top COVID news this week
Here's a few other things we're watching:
- XBB.1.5 now accounts for 49% of COVID cases in the U.S., according to CDC data. Learn more about XBB here.
- COVID complications: A study shows that a patient's increased risk for developing major cardiovascular disease lasts for at least 18 months after infection. In the short-term (within 21 days of infection), people recovering from COVID had four times higher risk of developing major cardiovascular disease and 81 times higher risk for death.
- In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants lawmakers to make permanent the state's prohibitions on mask mandates at schools and vaccine requirements for local governments and businesses. Read more here.
- What is viral interference? The tripledemic is one of several odd trends among respiratory virus infections. Viruses, it turns out, can block one another and take turns to dominate.
Thanks for reading! Today's newsletter was written by health reporter Karen Weintraub and editor Rachel Aretakis.