Should I get the updated COVID-19 shot?
References and Supplemental Information
1-11-2023 Update New Studies and article by Eric Topol, MD
Eric Topol, MD Director & Founder, Scripps Research Translational Institute says discusses the evidence that has accumulated on the bivalent boosters. He asserts that “The bivalent booster impact of broadening our immune response has exceeded expectations.”
See the link below for his full article that includes descriptions of some of the cumulative body of evidence supporting the assertion that “the bivalent vaccine booster outperforms”. I have excerpted some of his key statements.
A review of the cumulative body of evidence.
“The bivalent vaccine booster outperforms”
Eric Topol, MD Director & Founder, Scripps Research Translational Institute says in A review of the cumulative body of evidence.
“…we now have extensive data that is quite encouraging—better and broader than expected …. ” (recent studies)
“While the clinical benefit of reduced hospitalizations and deaths is best seen in the high risk population of age 65 and older, there is certainly evidence for benefit across all adults, ….” (discussing the data that shows a benefit not just for older adults but a reduction in hospitalization, ER and urgent care visits for all adults)
“The spike protein of the BA.5 bivalent (vaccine) more closely resembles XBB.1.5 than the Wuhan ancestral spike. The lab studies with live virus assays are strongly supportive. The clinical data are unequivocal.” (discussing why the bivalent vaccine should work better against the XBB.1.5 subvariant that is becoming dominant)
“The Bottom Line: Bivalent boosters work well to prevent severe Covid, as manifest by reduction of hospitalizations and deaths.” “The bivalent booster impact of broadening our immune response has exceeded expectations.”
Eric Topol, MD is a Professor of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research. He is the Director & Founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in the Department of Molecular Medicine.
Scripps Research, previously known as The Scripps Research Institute is a nonprofit medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institute has over 170 laboratories employing 2,100 scientists, technicians, graduate students, and other staff, making it the largest private, non-profit biomedical research organization in the United States and among the largest in the world.
Should I get the updated COVID-19 vaccine?
12-16-2022 Update
Here is the original article.
12-16-2022 update:
Bivalent boosters protection against severe disease:
Summaries:
Katelyn Jetelina, PhD (excerpt from her article)
(first study) 65 years and older.
Compared to no prior vaccination, effectiveness of the fall booster against hospitalization was 84%.
Compared to 2+ previous mRNA vaccines, effectiveness was 73%.
The second study leveraged the VISION network—a network of nine hospitals in 11 different states. Scientists assessed emergency room and urgent care visits (a proxy for more severe disease) from September 13 to November 18, 2022. They included patients of all ages, not just over 65 years old. They found:
Compared to no prior vaccination, effectiveness of the fall booster against emergency room or urgent care visits was 56%.
Compared to 2+ previous mRNA vaccines, effectiveness was 31-50%.
This depended on timing of last dose. If someone got their last mRNA shot 2-4 months ago, for example, effectiveness was 31%. If the last dose was 12+ months ago, effectiveness was 50%.
Eric Topol, MD: (excerpt from article)
“The first Table summarizes the data for age 65+ protection against hospitalization. It shows very high level of vaccine effectiveness compared with either no vaccination or the original booster (monovalent), irrespective of time (2 to more than 12 months elapsed). The is welcome, great news providing reassurance for such strong protection (post estimates range from 73-84%) in people of advanced age. And remember that a significant part of the time assessed for protection was during the rise of the BQ.1 variants to dominance. The BA.5 variant has been fading for weeks, which started just as the bivalent data was released. So these new data also provide a window into protection against BQ.1/BQ.1.1 which is notable.” “The other report contained data for all ages for protection vs emergency room and urgent care visits, and vs hospitalizations. Here is that Table showing the vaccine efffectiveness (VE, right column again) with lower levels of protection than for the high-risk seniors. But 57% reduced hospitalizations for all ages (compared with unvaccinated) is not anything to discount. Nor are the significant reductions of ER and urgent care visits, which are a softer outcome endpoint than hospitalizations. All of the data confirm that bivalent boosters work, and they work especially well in the people who need it the most—seniors.”
Reports from summaries:
Bivalent Booster Studies
(will be updated as more are available)
Here is a good summary of the studies:
A Bivalent Omicron-Containing Booster Vaccine against Covid-19 October 6, 2022 (moderna)
Discussion of studies on bivalent vaccine against variants:
Bivalent vaccines versus BQ Variants
mRNA bivalent booster enhances neutralization against BA.2.75.2 and BQ.1.1
Improved Neutralization of Omicron BA.4/5, BA.4.6, BA.2.75.2, BQ.1.1, and XBB.1 with Bivalent BA.4/5 Vaccine
Low neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2.75.2, BQ.1.1, and XBB.1 by parental mRNA vaccine or a BA.5-bivalent booster
The BQ.1.1 variant story
Early study on variant inclusive vaccines:
Safety and immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 variant mRNA vaccine boosters in healthy adults: an interim analysis
Published September 2021
Information on variants
A brief summary of how the immune system works:
Can You Boost Your Immune System?
How a virus enters a cell (video made 5 years ago):
Animation of steps that occur when SARS-CoV-2 enters a cell:
How mRNA vaccines work with the immune system:
Health and Medical Resources: COVID-19
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