By Breanna Reeves
(Source: Black Voice News)
Overview: The FDA authorized and approved an updated 2024-25 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna, which is now available for everyone six months of age and older. The new variant, KP.3.1., of the Omicron family, is making its way across the U.S., and other respiratory viruses like influenza (flu) and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) are also circulating. The updated COVID-19 vaccine is important to protect against new COVID-19 variants, and the California Department of Public Health recommends the following groups get vaccinated against RSV. The California Bridge Access Program (CA BAP) has been extended to existing BAP providers, which will allow uninsured and underinsured adults ages 19 years and older access to COVID-19 vaccines without payment.
As temperatures drop, local health officials urge Californians to prepare for the upcoming winter season by learning more about the updated COVID-19 vaccine and asking their doctor if and when they should get another dose.
On Aug. 22, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized and approved an updated 2024-25 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna. With the new updated vaccines, the 2023-24 mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are no longer being administered.
A new variant, KP.3.1., of the Omicron family, is making its way across the U.S., now estimated to be the predominant variant by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition to this new COVID variant, other respiratory viruses like influenza (flu) and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) are also circulating.
Dr. Peter Chin Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at University of California, San Francisco, explained that the KPS variant has spread through some European countries, and now the U.S., but that the rates of infection are going down.
“We don’t think it’s going to cause more serious disease, because the population immunity is generally high,” Dr. Hong said during an Ethnic Media Service briefing on Sept. 27. “The most important thing is to get the vaccine, and we think you’ll be well protected against serious disease, hospitalization and death.”
The updated COVID-19 vaccine is now available throughout California for everyone six months of age and older. As RSV is often spread between October and March, the California Department of Public Health recommends the following groups get vaccinated against RSV: adults aged 75 and older; adults aged 60 to 74 at increased risk; pregnant people who are 32 to 36 weeks pregnant between September through January; and babies younger than eight months and children ages eight to 19 months who are at high risk for severe RSV.
Getting an updated vaccine is important to protect against new COVID-19 variants, especially if an individual has not received a vaccine in recent years. Dr. Benjamin Neuman, professor of biology at Texas A&M University, emphasized, “the amount of time that these vaccines actually protect against new infection is only little less than six months, and usually more like four months.”
This occurs because the virus changes, not because a vaccine goes bad. The most recent mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was developed to correspond to the Omicron variant KP.2. According to Dr. Neuman, for many individuals who have not been vaccinated in two or three years, immunity from those initial vaccines are nearly gone and it may be time for another vaccine. With COVID mutating and creating new variants each year, the virus changes too quickly for a person’s immune system to catch up. Unlike polio, it is likely that COVID-19 vaccines will constantly need to be updated and a top up of a new dose will be needed.
“Taking the vaccine now gets you through the holiday season, hopefully, without any damage to you or your loved ones, and I think that is definitely a price worth paying — at least for me,” Dr. Neuman said during the briefing.
As new vaccines roll out, local community advocates worry that communities of color will be left behind — again. Dr. Daniel Turner-Lloveras, co-founder and CEO of Salud con Tech and the Latino Health Innovation Alliance, addressed issues of access, trust and equity among communities of color and COVID-19 vaccines.
With the end of the summer came an end to the CDC’s Bridge Access Program (BAP), which provided free COVID-19 vaccines to adults without health insurance and adults whose insurance did not cover all COVID-19 vaccine costs. The program ended in August, resulting in about 25 to 30 million adults without access to the updated vaccine.
“These communities aren’t just hesitant. They’ve been overlooked, and there have been victims of misinformation, disinformation, just like many other communities,” Dr. Turner-Lloveras said. “And people want to protect themselves and their families, but the barriers to the vaccines are real as well as the barriers to reliable information about the vaccines.”
In communities of color, barriers to healthcare access and vaccines include transportation, language barriers, lack of clinics, among others. All of these roadblocks contribute to declining vaccination rates among communities of color who are often underserved and overlooked.
“Many of these barriers still exist, and the more we talk about it, the more we can put it under the microscope, under the health equity lens, and really drive more locally, community-driven solutions,” Dr. Turner-Lloveras said.
While the CDC has ended their BAP, the California Bridge Access Program (CA BAP) has been extended to existing BAP providers. This extension will allow uninsured and underinsured adults ages 19 years and older access to COVID-19 vaccines without payment. Residents in Riverside County who meet the criteria and want to receive the updated COVID vaccine can see a list of clinics here. San Bernardino County residents can check out local clinics for updated vaccines or visit a county public health site event for free vaccinations.
Cost free vaccines are also available to children, 18 and under, under the federal Vaccines For Children (VFC) program who may not otherwise be vaccinated due to cost.
