(123rf.com photo)

By Liv Osby

With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of new Covid vaccines, shots should soon be available to the public.

And experts say that everyone who is eligible should be vaccinated to protect themselves and others against the strain of the virus now circulating.

“I encourage everybody to get vaccinated as soon as the vaccine is available,” said Dr. Martha Buchanan, interim director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health's Bureau of Communicable Disease Prevention and Control.

“It’s a safe and effective way to reduce illness in our community,” she said.

“Get the vaccination,” said Dr. Michael Sweat, faculty director at the Medical University of South Carolina Center for Global Health.

“The CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends everybody 6 months and older get it,” he said. “And I believe that’s good advice.” 

“Go get it,” agreed Dr. Helmut Albrecht, medical director of the Center of Infectious Diseases Research and Policy at Prisma Health. 

“It’s a really good idea,” he added, “especially if you’re over 65, have some immunocompromising conditions, or if you want to help out your neighbor.”

The FDA on Aug. 22 approved updated Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines after they met the agency’s standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality, saying they reduce hospitalization and death. 

More than 1 million Americans died during the pandemic, but Covid vaccines “prevented more than 18.5 million U.S. hospitalizations and 3.2 million deaths” by the end of November 2022, according to The Commonwealth Fund.

“Given waning immunity of the population from previous exposure to the virus and from prior vaccination,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a release, “we strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated Covid-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants.”

Because the virus is mutating, it needs to be updated annually, like the flu shot, the doctors said.

“It’s a very good match this year,” said Sweat. “And there is a lot of optimism that it has very good efficacy and immunity.” 

“The virus has changed and we do need to keep getting vaccinations,” said Buchanan. “But science has evolved and is able to update vaccines pretty quickly. The mRNA technology is really a game changer in our effort to reduce Covid disease.”

“I will get both of them (the Covid and flu shots) together,” said Albrecht. 

The new Covid vaccines target KP.2, the latest variant responsible for a strong surge in cases over the past several weeks.

“We’ve had a big summer outbreak this year. We started seeing high numbers around mid-July and it’s gone way up and stayed up,” said Sweat. “And across all locations, we’re seeing more Covid cases than we did in the winter.”

“We are seeing increased hospital visits, but not increased severe disease, which is great,” said Buchanan.

While it’s hard to know for sure why this is happening, Sweat said one theory holds that while many people got the first two vaccinations, they never got booster shots. Another is that some variants are more able to spread and overcome immunity, he said.

“Only 7.4 percent of the population in South Carolina is up to date for booster shots,” he said. “The one thing I find most challenging is that so many people say, ‘I got the two doses and don’t see the point in getting vaccinated over and over.’ But scientific reality is that it (immunity) wears off.”

“People choose not to get vaccinated for many reasons, and certainly we respect those choices,” said Buchanan. “But we hope that people will reconsider as they see other people being vaccinated and it being safe and effective.”

Albrecht said a winter surge is expected that could be bad as well. 

“Get the vaccine, and let’s not get into these bad surges,” he said. 

While some people experienced side effects to previous Covid vaccines such as pain and redness at the site of the injection, fatigue, and muscle aches, most have been mild and temporary, according to the CDC. More serious side effects include myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, and blood clots, though they are rare, CDC reports. 

The FDA said Covid vaccines have been given to hundreds of millions of people in the U.S., and that “the benefits continue to outweigh the risks.”

Albrecht said that if you tolerated it before, the likelihood you will tolerate it again is nearly 100 percent.

“It’s such an incredibly safe vaccine,” he said. “It makes sense to boost up every year.”

Sweat said those who are elderly, on chemotherapy, or have other conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, or COPD should take the vaccine as soon as possible after it’s available. 

The average person might want to wait until October because that’s when the winter season picks up, he added.

Those who’ve recently had Covid probably should wait until October but should still get vaccinated to boost their immunity for the winter surge.

The vaccines not only protect against severe disease and death, the doctors say, they also make you less infectious to others. 

“One of the concerns is that people are not just putting themselves at risk, but putting others at risk,” said Buchanan. “We know it (vaccination) will greatly reduce severe disease.”

“The 20- and 30-year-olds still need vaccine for themselves,” said Albrecht. “But they may be able to help grandpa out – make it happen for their community.”

In addition, there is evidence that people who’ve been vaccinated are less likely to get Long Covid, Sweat said. 

“There are a lot of benefits to vaccination,” he said. “People really need to get a booster shot.”

Buchanan said the DPA will be offering vaccination to the public at local health departments once it’s available. Children can be vaccinated free, she said, adding there are other funding streams for adults who are uninsured and underinsured, though insurers may be billed for those who have coverage. 

People can make an appointment by calling DPH’s Care Line at 1-855-472-3432.