Second Bivalent Booster?

[NW-Bound]

Where you going NW?

Have had 5 shots so far: Walgreen's, Walgreen's, Walmart, Costco, Walmart.

I think I am going back to Walmart for this 6th shot.

 

[Dreamer]

We are planning on getting it, but I think that we are going to wait until beginning of July. I am going to a convention of sorts for 3-4 days the middle of July and then we are going on a cruise the end of July into August.

 

[explanade]

Have had 5 shots so far: Walgreen's, Walgreen's, Walmart, Costco, Walmart.

I think I am going back to Walmart for this 6th shot.

No, for your trip.

Didn’t see anything in the Travel 2023.

 

[fh2000]

I just scheduled mine from CVS. They only asked about the date of last vaccine, and my Part D information.

For those who are not yet 65 but got your (or spouse's) vaccine from CVS, will your private insurance pay for the vaccine, even though CDC has not confrimed your eligibility date?

 

[Ian S]

I just scheduled mine from CVS. They only asked about the date of last vaccine, and my Part D information.

For those who are not yet 65 but got your (or spouse's) vaccine from CVS, will your private insurance pay for the vaccine, even though CDC has not confrimed your eligibility date?

If that was going to be a problem, I think they would have warned us. Even if we wind up having to pay at some point, it will have been worth the peace of mind for our trip.

 

[fh2000]

If that was going to be a problem, I think they would have warned us. Even if we wind up having to pay at some point, it will have been worth the peace of mind for our trip.

So, DW is not yet 65. We do have a trip in June. So, for her, we will just wait until close to the end of May. If no updates from CVS, we will just to ahead and schedule her shot by then.

 

[NW-Bound]

No, for your trip.

Didn’t see anything in the Travel 2023.

OK. Wrong question for this thread. Will share updated info on my upcoming trip.

What happened was that when I started the thread, had some ideas, but needed to plan it out.

At this point, airfares and cruise fares were paid, hotels and Airbnbs reserved, and the only things to buy are train tickets. It adds up to a 5-figure total already.

 

[pacergal]

DH and I got our 2nd BiValent booster last week. A little muscle discomfort for a day.
I had signed up for the Moderna, but had to get Pfizer again as the Moderna wasn't delivered.
6 months from our last and will be 6 months until October, when we usually get our annual Flu vaccine, so if there is another updated covid shot then, we will be able to get it.
I don't mind getting vaccines, have not had covid, still mask up in crowds.

 

[GenXguy]

Yeah, COVID is far from over - need to keep getting vaccinated. I haven't had the second bivalent since I'm in my 50's and not eligible. In fact, nothing has been mentioned about it at work, for anyone, which is where I got all my previous COVID vaccinations.

 

[explanade]

Just scheduled a second booster at Safeway in a couple of weeks.

Their website doesn't let you specify bivalent booster, just a covid booster.

I think they're only producing bivalent booster now.

After I completed the appointment they offered a 2nd boosters for 50+ or immunocompromised.

I wonder if they're speficially referring to second bivalent booster or the verbiage on their web site is outdated.

I scheduled two weeks before I'm going to leave for France. So if Safeway doesn't have the bivalent, I may have to scramble to get it elsewhere.

 

[cbo111]

DW and I got our second bivalent booster 2.5 days ago. The first day we felt nothing. The second day moderate sore arms and a little achy feeling. Third day we feel completely fine. This was by far the mildest impact of all previous shots.

 

[EastWest Gal]

On this week's "Clinical Update with Dr. Daniel Griffin" on This Week in Virology podcast, they discussed a preprint of a study regarding the effectiveness of the bivalent vaccine. Basically, it is no longer very effective, possibly because of differences with the current strain (XBB.1.5). I had a bivalent booster in early October, but got Covid later that very same day, about 8 hours later testing positive. I will not attempt to get another bivalent booster at this time, based on this study.

This is one study, but it was the first one that suggested that more doses may not be protective. I still mask in crowded places.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.17.22283625v5.full.pdf

 

[GenXguy]

On this week's "Clinical Update with Dr. Daniel Griffin" on This Week in Virology podcast, they discussed a preprint of a study regarding the effectiveness of the bivalent vaccine. Basically, it is no longer very effective, possibly because of differences with the current strain (XBB.1.5). I had a bivalent booster in early October, but got Covid later that very same day, about 8 hours later testing positive. I will not attempt to get another bivalent booster at this time, based on this study.

This is one study, but it was the first one that suggested that more doses may not be protective. I still mask in crowded places.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.17.22283625v5.full.pdf

But even if you get COVID, the chances of a serious illness are lower if you got a bivalent booster in recent months. I got my bivalent booster way last Sept/Oct and effectiveness wanes over time.

 

[audreyh1]

On this week's "Clinical Update with Dr. Daniel Griffin" on This Week in Virology podcast, they discussed a preprint of a study regarding the effectiveness of the bivalent vaccine. Basically, it is no longer very effective, possibly because of differences with the current strain (XBB.1.5). I had a bivalent booster in early October, but got Covid later that very same day, about 8 hours later testing positive. I will not attempt to get another bivalent booster at this time, based on this study.

This is one study, but it was the first one that suggested that more doses may not be protective. I still mask in crowded places.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.17.22283625v5.full.pdf

Of course you had no protection at all from the booster on day 1 when you obviously had already caught Covid. It takes well over a week. I’m sure you know this.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Of course. But it certainly was annoying!

 

[RetMD21]

But even if you get COVID, the chances of a serious illness are lower if you got a bivalent booster in recent months. I got my bivalent booster way last Sept/Oct and effectiveness wanes over time.

Exactly I care much more about vaccine effectiveness against death, severe illness, and long covid than effectiveness vs infection. Also VE will decline with time from vaccination so one would expect the era of newer strains to be associated with less effectiveness This point is rather obvious but I didn't see it addressed in thee "limitations" section of thee preprint.

 

[FIYes]

I plan to get the second bivalent booster. My question is timing. I want maximum protection for an international trip I have planned so I’m thinking three to for weeks before my trip. My concern is with the end of the official Covid crisis on May 11, should I go ahead and get the booster now to be sure that it is free to me? This is a little sooner than I would prefer.

 

[pacergal]

I plan to get the second bivalent booster. My question is timing. I want maximum protection for an international trip I have planned so I’m thinking three to for weeks before my trip. My concern is with the end of the official Covid crisis on May 11, should I go ahead and get the booster now to be sure that it is free to me? This is a little sooner than I would prefer.

Most health insurance companies cover immunizations if they are recommended by the CDC, however it would be a good idea to call your insurance just to see.
Depending on when you are going, getting it now, should provide good coverage for at least 3 months.

 

[audreyh1]

I plan to get the second bivalent booster. My question is timing. I want maximum protection for an international trip I have planned so I’m thinking three to for weeks before my trip. My concern is with the end of the official Covid crisis on May 11, should I go ahead and get the booster now to be sure that it is free to me? This is a little sooner than I would prefer.

2 weeks before your trip would be good timing for dose effectiveness, IMO.

 

[RetMD21]

I've been hoping for a nasal booster but this Atlantic article from December points out that it isn't easy, there is currently only one example of a proven nasal vaccine for a respiratory virus, and there would be significant concerns about using a live virus. The nasal vaccines in use in some countries lack clinical effectiveness data. Anyway if you are interested: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/12/covid-mucosal-vaccines-protection/672544/
The paywall should let you through for a sample article

 

[FIYes]

Answering my question, I received the following in a standard email from Medicare about the change on May 11, 2023.


Medicare will continue to cover COVID-19 vaccines at no cost.
You'll be able to get COVID-19 PCR and antigen tests with no out-of-pocket costs when ordered by a doctor.
Expanded telehealth services will continue through December 31, 2024.
More Info

After May 11, 2023, Medicare will no longer cover or pay for over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests. If you're enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, you may have more access to tests depending on your benefits. Make sure to check with your plan.

Sincerely,

The Medicare Team

You can update your preferences or use our 1-click unsubscribe to stop receiving messages from the Medicare Team.
USA Department of Health and Human Services
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[explanade]

I've been hoping for a nasal booster but this Atlantic article from December points out that it isn't easy, there is currently only one example of a proven nasal vaccine for a respiratory virus, and there would be significant concerns about using a live virus. The nasal vaccines in use in some countries lack clinical effectiveness data. Anyway if you are interested: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/12/covid-mucosal-vaccines-protection/672544/
The paywall should let you through for a sample article

Saw a preprint from researchers who suggest that bivalent boosters should stop using the ancestral strain spike protein when they update bivalent boosters to the latest strain, in order to minimize immunity imprinting or what they call original antigenic sin.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.01.538516v2


They found that repeated Omicron infections reduced this imprinting phenomenon and increased nAb titers. Of course instead of deliberately getting infected, they would advocate getting updated boosters.

Question is whether there is interest and funding to continue to update, make and distribute updated bivalent boosters.

Not only is the Covid 19 emergency status ending, both in the US federal govt and the WHO designation, booster uptake is declining every time new boosters are rolled out.

So there may not be an economic case for Moderna and Pfizer to continue to put out new boosters.

 

[iloveyoga]

DH got his booster a week ago with no issues. I'm not quite 65 so they would not give me one yet, I did try. So I will wait until they change the requirements or I turn 65. Two of my friends have recently had Covid, one for the second time and one for the first time.

 

[ejman]

My doctor advised me to get the second booster but as I'm scheduled to have another immune suppressing infusion next week I guess I'll wait for a while to get the booster. Its really tricky to navigate vaccines around treatments for immune suppressed patients.

 

[RetMD21]

Saw a preprint from researchers who suggest that bivalent boosters should stop using the ancestral strain spike protein when they update bivalent boosters to the latest strain, in order to minimize immunity imprinting or what they call original antigenic sin.....

Question is whether there is interest and funding to continue to update, make and distribute updated bivalent boosters.
....

I wonder if the approach will be just make the annual fall booster based on the most current circulating strain when the decision is made. That might be like the influenza predictive approach. I saw a study from the UK comparing bivalent to ancestral only with the bivalent winning. It would be interesting this fall to compare new strain only to ancestral plus new. Dropping the ancestral stain from the vaccine might be too radical a step for the committee.