The U.S. Food and Drug Administration two updated COVID-19 vaccines to help protect people from the latest strain of the virus.
The Checkup鈥檚 question today is: should I get the newest COVID vaccine?
Lizzy McGrevy, Side Effects Public Media鈥檚 community engagement specialist, sat down with Health Reporter Ben Thorp to talk about that.
This transcript has been edited for length, style and clarity.
Lizzy McGrevy: So, Ben, why do we need a COVID booster right now?
Ben Thorp: Right now we鈥檙e seeing a spike in COVID activity across the country. Nationwide test positivity has been climbing and is currently
Here in Indiana we鈥檙e seeing 鈥撯�� going from a seven-day average of 29 at the start of June to about 200 at the end of August.
RELATED: Ohio health department reports COVID uptick, but no cases of West Nile virus - yet
Dr. Mandy Cohen, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said immunity from previous infections provides some protection but vaccines are still important.
鈥淲e know that protection decreases over time and certain groups continue to be at higher risk from COVID and other viruses,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淲e need to continue to protect ourselves and our loved ones.鈥�
The other thing worth mentioning is Cohen said COVID mutates faster than the traditional flu virus which is why staying ahead of it is so important.
McGrevy: Ok, you mentioned that COVID is mutating quickly. Are these new boosters actually targeted FOR the latest strains?
Thorp: They are not. These latest boosters Right now
Lizzy: Those sound like Apple operating system updates.
Thorp: They sure do.
McGrevy: So, our vaccines are for the older variant, is that a problem?
Thorp: Experts say the vaccines are still going to provide some defense here. Right now, all of these variants and so because our vaccines are targeted to something that鈥檚 in a similar family, let's say, it should still provide some defense.
Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration, said the concern right now isn鈥檛 that vaccines won鈥檛 provide defense against new mutations, it鈥檚 that people aren鈥檛 getting their vaccines.
鈥淚 think the point of this campaign is if you have someone in the office and you can get them to get a COVID-19 vaccine that is probably better than what we have now, which is people who haven鈥檛 had a COVID-19 vaccine for one or two years,鈥� Marks said.
McGrevy: Alright, I鈥檓 convinced. How do I get my updated vaccine?
Thorp: I reached out to our local health department and they are telling people to check in with their local pharmacies to see who might already have access to it.
They are also reminding people to get their regular flu shot while they are in there.
The Marion County Public Health Department in Indianapolis said they don鈥檛 have the vaccine yet but will put out a release as soon as they become available.
Right now,
McGrevy: Ben, Thanks for the update!
Thorp: Anytime.
The Checkup by Side Effects Public Media is a regular audio segment on WFYI's daily podcast, .
Side Effects Public Media is a health reporting collaboration based at WFYI in Indianapolis. We partner with NPR stations across the Midwest and surrounding areas 鈥� including KBIA and KCUR in Missouri, Iowa Public Radio, Ideastream in Ohio and WFPL in Kentucky.
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