Lots of personal reasons such as COVID fatigue, a presumption that COVID is over, less messaging and emphasis on safety precautions from government messaging, peer pressure of most people returning to “pre-pandemic norms.” It is understandable that people are feeling this way. However, it is still important to take precautions and protect yourself as COVID-19 is still prevalent throughout the state.

Boosters are recommended to give your body the best chance at fighting the COVID virus if you do get infected. The updated bivalent booster helps remind your body how to fight COVID infection, so that if you do get infected, your body can react quicker and more efficiently to overcome COVID.

Recent data shows that adults who received the updated bivalent vaccine reduce their risk of infection by at least 40% compared to those who have not received their primary series. We have over two years of data that shows that the mRNA COVID vaccines are an incredibly effective way to protect against severe illness by COVID-19 infection. The first booster doses were monovalent and targeted the original strain while the updated boosters are bivalent and target both the original strain and the Omicron strains causing the most recent cases. An updated bivalent booster dose provides significant additional protection against COVID-19 symptoms compared to monovalent vaccines alone.

Unfortunately, no 🙁 Each of these illnesses needs its own vaccines, as they are caused by different viruses.

The original doses of COVID vaccines and the first rounds of boosters were targeted towards the first iterations of the COVID virus. As the virus adapts and changes, it has become more resistant to the original vaccine. The new (bivalent) booster is the most up to date vaccine to help protect against recently circulating variants, such as Omicron variants.