© 2024 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
LIVE BLOG: Updates on Hurricane Milton recovery
News about coronavirus in Florida and around the world is constantly emerging. It's hard to stay on top of it all but Health News Florida and WUSF can help. Our responsibility at WUSF News is to keep you informed, and to help discern what’s important for your family as you make what could be life-saving decisions.

Florida's health officials say COVID booster targets wrong strain. An expert says it will still work

Health worker extracts coronavirus vaccine from a vial with a syringe in the foreground. Female patient in the background with her sleeve pulled up to expose her arm.
Shi
/
stock.adobe.com
COVID cases have been on the rise, and the decision to get a booster vaccine - or not - can be a difficult one.

The state agency advises people to skip the shot because it doesn’t target the current dominant variant. A USF epidemiologist says it will still be effective but suggests first asking whether you need the booster.

Recently, you may have been hearing about COVID-19 a bit too often for your liking. Cases have been on the rise nationally, and perhaps getting a booster shot has been on your mind.

Last month, the FDA approved the latest COVID vaccine. It’s intended to target a strain known as KP.2, the dominant variant during the summer. However, as of Aug. 19, the current prevalent strain is KP.3.1.1, according to the CDC.

This difference is the focus of the Florida Department of Health’s most recent vaccine guidelines. In a memo sent Thursday, the agency urged people to skip the new booster because it doesn’t target the most infectious strain.

At the University of South Florida College of Public Health, epidemiologist Edwin Michael doesn’t fully agree. He said KP.2 and KP3.1.1 are closely related - close enough that the booster should still be effective.

For Michael, the question to address is the need for a booster, not its efficacy.

“I’m sitting on a fence here, you know; as an epidemiologist and a forecasting person in particular, I’m not that worried,” he said. “This is not going to flare up immediately. This will become like (the) flu.”

Furthermore, Michael explained that the current spike in COVID cases was expected.

“As people mix, colleges reopening, schools reopening, there’s greater mixing and immunity will keep waning and rising again.”

The health department’s guidelines also claim that the FDA failed to conduct sufficient human clinical trials for the strain-specific booster.

“None of these vaccines have been seriously tested, especially for long-term effects. So there is some truth to that,” Michael said. He elaborated on the fact that all human testing since the beginning of the pandemic has been accelerated and on a smaller scale than usual.

He added that getting vaccinated may not be necessary, provided someone is not immunocompromised or at high risk, such as the elderly or those with respiratory issues.

The memo from the health department marks the third straight year the state has recommended against the use of an FDA-approved mRNA COVID vaccine.

In 2023 and 2022, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo claimed insufficient human testing, lack of efficacy and vague adverse health effects as reasons to avoid the shot.

Copyright 2024 WUSF 89.7

Mahika Kukday is the WUSF Radio News intern for fall of 2024.
You Count on Us, We Count on You: Donate to WUSF to support free, accessible journalism for yourself and the community.