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New COVID Boosters

Many people have questions about the new COVID vaccine boosters.  Keep reading for answers to some of the most common ones here.

What’s new in this latest round of COVID vaccine boosters? 

The original COVID vaccines were effective at preventing infection and very successful in preventing complications from the Alpha and Delta strains.  But they are less effective against the Omicron variants which are more transmissible and immune-evading.

On September 1, 2022 the CDC approved new boosters from Pfizer (for ages 12 and up) and Moderna (for ages 18 and up).  These updated boosters add Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 to the original vaccine composition. 

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, Bivalent is the name for Moderna’s new booster.  Pfizer’s new booster is called Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Bivalent.  Bivalent just means there are two strains in the vaccine (alpha and omicron).  I think we should call it COVID vaccine 2.0.

Is it better than the original?

As COVID has mutated into different strains and subvariants, it has gotten better at evading the vaccine.

For the original strain (Alpha) and the later strain (Delta), Pfizer and Moderna initial two-shot series were about 75% effective at preventing infection and 90-95% effective at preventing serious complications.  But the vaccines were less effective against Omicron – only 30-40% protection against infection and 70% protection against hospitalization.  A 3rd booster shot boosted effectiveness against infection to 75% and 88% for severe disease.

Unfortunately, it’s unclear exactly how much protection the new booster shots will provide, but models suggest 80% protection from infection and around 90% for prevention of complications. 

How could they approve the new booster without large clinical trials?

Believe it or not, this is something that has been done for decades with the flu shot.  The flu shot is reformulated every year based on an educated guess of what the circulating strains will be in the coming year.  They might take 1 or 2 strains out and put in different ones. 

Flu shots are made using eggs and take 9 months to produce.  Because large clinical trials require time (a minimum of 3-6 months, often longer), it’s not feasible to run clinical trials each year.  They have decades of data showing the vaccine is safe and effective (some years more than others), so they approve the latest formulation based on that history.  This has been a very effective strategy allowing the flu shot to adapt each year just in time for the next flu season.

They have adopted a similar process for the new COVID vaccine booster.  They have extensive safety and effectiveness data for the original COVID vaccines (over 600 million doses given in US).  Additionally, they have safety and immunogenicity data from a clinical study of a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine that contained mRNA from the Alpha strain and mRNA from the original Omicron strain (not BA.4 or BA.5 subvariants).

Should I get one?

Yes.  I plan to get mine and will give it to my 87-year-old mother.  I’ve encouraged my children (in their 20’s) to get it as well.

When should I get it?

Although you can get it as early as 2 months after your previous booster, I recommend waiting 4 months after your last booster.  That’s the point where the vaccine efficacy seems to drop. 

Another consideration is the current amount of COVID infections.  Currently cases are relatively low.  We are anticipating a surge in December/January, like what we’ve had for the past two years.  So, you might want to get the booster in October or November to have good immunity in December and January.

Does the new booster have side effects?

They are expected to be similar to the original vaccine – soreness in arm, body aches, fever, etc.

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Flu Shots in the Year of Covid-19

Does it really matter if I get a flu shot? The short answer is YES !!!!


The flu is dangerous in its own right, hospitalizing and killing tens of thousands of people each year and sidelining millions more for days to weeks. On average, 17 million work days and 38 million school days are missed every year as a result of the flu.
This great article from NPR explains…


Emergency rooms and urgent care clinics are often flooded with flu patients during winter months. So getting a flu shot can help prevent those visits — and thereby prevent the co-mingling of flu patients and COVID-19 patients, who can infect each other and spread their viruses to other ER patients.
In most years, some who get the flu would reasonably choose to ride it out, feeling miserable for a week or so says Dr. Steven Pergam, an associate professor in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. But this year, “even people who never see a doctor for the flu might be prompted to book an appointment or head for the ER if they feel flu-like symptoms coming on,” Pergam says. That’s because the flu and COVID-19 can share many (though not all) symptoms, including fever, chills, cough, sore throat, muscle or body aches, headaches and fatigue.
“And even if you might only have a few days of feeling poorly,” Pergam says, “transmitting the flu to babies, older people and people with compromised immune systems risks severe illness or death for them.”
Public health experts are also concerned about people having both the flu and COVID-19 at the same time. “We don’t know yet whether that could compound either illness, but why take the risk?” says Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute.
“No year is a good year to get the flu, but this year — with COVID-19 also raging — it’s especially bad,” says Mark Thompson, an epidemiologist in the Influenza Division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “People who can avoid the flu will help reduce the burden on a U.S. health care system already overwhelmed by COVID-19,” Thompson says.
Flu Facts

  • Flu sickens between 9 – 45 million people in the US each year.
  • Between 140,000 to 800,000 people in the US are hospitalized each year due to Flu.
  • You can infect other people up to 7 days after becoming sick with the flu?
  • The rate of heart attacks increased 10 X 1-3 days after flu infection
  • The flu shot isn’t perfect, but its a whole lot better than not taking it
  • You cannot get the flu from the flu shot – it can make you feel crummy, that is true. But those symptoms come because your immune system is responding to the vaccine, not the flu.
  • There are now several types of flu vaccines that are NOT made in eggs and thus cause less side effects for many people
  • If you take your flu vaccine early (e.g. Aug/Sep), you can get a booster in January if the flu season is particularly bad
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Coronavirus Scams

The COVID-19 pandemic is now in its 6 month in the US, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions and fear. Unfortunately scam artists are praying on that fear and uncertainty. Wearing a mask and social distancing help protect you from COVID-19. But how do you protect yourself from COVID-19 scams? Learn what to look for and what common scams look like!

  1. COVID-19 Text Scams: Scammers use links in texts to put malicious code on your phone or link to a phony website that tries to get your personal information. NEVER click a link in a text about COVID. There are scams touting cures, warnings about the need for a test, or “special offers.” Some specific scams:
  • Claiming to be from the “FCC Financial Care Center” and offering $30,000 in COVID-19 relief.
  • Impersonating the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Recipients are told they must take a “mandatory online COVID-19 test”
  • “IRS COVID-19 News” includes a link and instructions for recipients “to register/update your information in order to receive the economic impact payment regardless of your status.” 

2. Posing as a Contact Tracer: These are the most scary in my opinion. True Contact Tracers work for state health departments to try to track anyone who may have been exposed to COVID-19, and they are an important part of our road to recovery. It differs from state to state, but they may contact you by call, email, text or even visit your home. They may ask for your name and address, health information, and the names of places and people you have visited. They WILL NOT ask for:

  • Payment of any kind
  • Your Social Security number or financial information. 
  • Immigration status
  • you to click on a link or download anything. Real tracers will only send you texts or emails that say they’ll be calling you

3. Stimulus payment scams: These are less common now, but if there is a second round of stimulus payments, these scams will certainly return. Tips to avoid these scams:

  • Use only IRS.gov/coronavirus to submit information
  • The IRS won’t contact you by phone, email, text message, or social media with information about your stimulus payment
  • The IRS will not reach out to you to ask you for your Social Security number, bank account, or government benefits debit card account number.
  • You don’t have to pay to get your stimulus money.
  • The IRS won’t tell you to deposit your stimulus check then send them money back because they paid you more than they owed you. 

4. Robocall scams: phone scammers have seized the opportunity, using robocalls and call-back scams to offer free home testing kits, promote bogus cures, sell health insurance and promise financial relief. Some current Robocall scams include:

  • Purporting to be from WHO and asking for account information or money
  • Offer free virus test kits in an effort to collect consumers’ personal and health insurance information. One pernicious version of this scam targets higher risk individuals with diabetes, offering a free COVID-19 testing kit along with a free diabetic monitor. 
  • Marketing fake cures and asking for payment over the phone. If you get a call that says a product can prevent, treat, or cure COVID-19, stop. Think to yourself: if there’s actually been a medical breakthrough, am I really going to hear about it for the first time from an ad or sales pitch? The answer is clearly “no.”
  • COVID-19 themed work-from-home opportunities, debt consolidation offers, and student loan repayment plans. (For legitimate information about the coronavirus-related interest rate deferral on student loans, check FSA’s website.
  • Small businesses are also getting scam calls about virus-related funding or loans and online listing verification.

5. COVID mask exemption cards:  There are cards circulating online and on social media that say the holder has a disability that prevents them from wearing a mask, and that it’s illegal for any business to ask them to disclose their condition. Variations of the card include the seal of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), one of the federal agencies responsible for enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These cards aren’t issued or endorsed by DOJ, or any other federal agency.

6. Free COVID-19 money offers on WhatsApp and Facebook: Have you seen a message on WhatsApp or Facebook offering you free help during the pandemic? These messages all offer money to people who need it — through grants, coupons for food support, or other giveaways. But they’re all fake. The message may tell you to click a link to get your money. If you click, you might find a survey to take. Or they might ask you to enter your name, address, phone number, or other information. And they might ask you to forward the message to several friends to be eligible to collect. DON’T CLICK ON ANY LINKS in these messages.

7. Coronavirus Charity Scams: Opportunistic scammers are using fake appeals or sham charities to swindle donations from good-hearted people. Before you give, do some research. Search online for the charity’s name and the words “scam” or “fraud.” Review ratings of the charity by organizations like BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, CharityWatch, or GuideStar. Here are some tips to make sure you’re not talking to a scammer:

  • Donate using a credit card. It’s the safest way to donate.
  • Double check the name of the organization. Many fake charities try to trick you by using names similar to those of well-known organizations, but with one word different or a misspelled.
  • Ask lots of questions. What’s the charity’s website, address, and mission? How much of my donation will go to the program I want to help? How many people does the charity help, and how? If you get vague answers, it’s probably a scam.
  • Don’t assume a donation request on social media is legitimate just because a friend liked it or shared it. Call your friends or contact them offline to ask them about the post they shared.

8. Scams targeting older Americans:

  • The US Securities and Exchange Commission posted a warning about fake stock offers pitching a nonexistent biotech company developing a vaccine for COVID-19.
  • The Social Security Administration posted an alert about a scam claiming that benefit payments may be suspended or decreased due to office closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Any call, text or letter offering to “maintain regular benefit payments” if you make a payment is FAKE.
  • Another scam offers investment gains while protecting against losses — a coronavirus twist on a classic phony investment offer.
  • Pandemic versions of the “grandparent scam,” where a scammer poses as a relative, often a grandchild, in a desperate situation and urgently in need of money. 

If you see a scam, report it to ftc.gov/complaint or fcc.gov/complaints.