This summer has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases. With updated vaccines coming this fall, questions have arisen: Will the vaccines be available in time to make a difference?
COVID waves are not tied to a season. While flu typically begins in the fall and peaks in late winter and spring, COVID is different.
The JN.1 variants emerged last winter. New COVID vaccines targeting the KP.2 strain will be distributed in the coming weeks.
Even if vaccines are available within the next month, immunologists and infectious disease experts don’t expect them to have much of an impact on the current summer wave. But vaccinations will be important. We’re approaching fall and winter, when cases typically rise again.
“History tells us that if there’s going to be another, significant wave of Covid, it’s more likely to come in the fall than at this time of year”. Said John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Increase in morbidity COVID-19
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 can flare up throughout the year. Four years of Covid data show that it peaks in the winter months of December and January and the hot summer months of July and August. In 2024, cases began to rise in June and are still high.
Ideally, public health officials would administer COVID-19 vaccines shortly before each wave. That would help reduce transmission, infections, and severe illness.
But until the U.S. can figure out the timing. “Maybe the right thing to do right now is to give two boosters a year, one in the early summer and one in the fall,” she said, adding that the timing of the fall vaccine rollout is “a good but difficult question.”
Who should get vaccinated
In February, the FDA and CDC recommended boosters for people at risk, especially those 65 and older, to ensure protection before another likely summer surge. Only 10% of adults 65 and older have received the two-dose 2023-24 booster shots, and the summer wave is happening anyway.
Last fall, when CDC data showed a rise in hospitalizations. Some doctors criticized the FDA for waiting too long to roll out updated COVID-19 vaccines.
Many people, including young healthy adults, likely won’t need more than one COVID shot a year, said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto.
How long a person is protected from COVID after the disease can vary depending on several factors, including the severity of the infection, the strain, the person’s age and health. Studies have shown that protection can last three months or longer.
Dr. Ofer Levy, director of the precision vaccine program at Boston Children’s Hospital, cautioned against a false sense of security among those who had the disease over the summer. Even if someone is infected, vaccines will still be important, since natural infection does not provide protection
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-vaccines-fall-will-arrive-combat-surge-rcna166182