New COVID-19 vaccines in the fall important for everyone – SSM Health

Their names sound benign, but their danger is real: KP.1. LB.1. JN.1. KP.2. The latest variants of the COVID-19 disease run together like a less-than-appetizing version of alphabet soup. But what they all spell out, according to SSM Health physician Dr. Shephali Wulff, an expert on infectious diseases, is the need for everyone to get a new coronavirus vaccine this fall.

We have three years of evidence that these vaccines are safe and effective, and that people who have been vaccinated are less likely to end up in the hospital or die from COVID, said Wulff, SSM Healths VP of Quality and Safety.

The urgency for this is borne out by the numbers this summer. COVID-19 is ramping up across 39 states at a time of year when the diseases prevalence is relatively low with more people spending time outdoors.

Theres a difference, though. Many people have been skipping additional vaccines and some have never gotten one, expecting numerous COVID-19 infections to help them develop antibodies and a degree of immunity.

If anything, the official COVID-19 infection numbers may be lower than the actual totals, she said.

Prevalence data is flawed because folks are not testing, or they are testing at home, which does not get reported, she said.

Summer, she notes, is not always disease-free. She cites the circulation of respiratory viruses such as rhino/enterovirus and other coronaviruses as staples of the summer season, and the fact that flu season is extending longer than it used to.

Travel and large gatherings may be partially to blame for the uptick, she said. In addition, peoples immunity from last falls vaccines may be waning. All of that, she says, makes it imperative to get a new vaccine this year, just like people do with an annual flu shot.

Wulff said the public can expect new vaccines to be available in the fall, probably late September or early October. Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax all are developing vaccines to guard against infection by some of the more recent variants.

People 65 and older remain especially vulnerable to the coronavirus, but only 40 percent got a COVID-19 vaccine last fall. Seniors account for the majority of hospitalizations and deaths due to the virus.

Yet children under 5 remain susceptible to COVID-19 as well, and only 14 percent of that population was vaccinated last year.

Wulff noted that the vaccine is covered by most insurances, including Medicaid and Medicare. Departments of public health also offer the vaccines. Have a conversation with your physician about the vaccine, she urged.

Find a physician for your family.

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New COVID-19 vaccines in the fall important for everyone - SSM Health