CINCINNATI — As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in Ohio. New COVID vaccines are expected to be available soon. Ohio doctors are answering your questions about the new COVID vaccine.
Who should get the new COVID vaccine?
The CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older get an updated COVID vaccine.
“Think of it not necessarily as a booster, but more of the seasonal COVID kind of vaccine,” said Dr. Steve Feagins, medical director of Hamilton County Public Health.
The new COVID vaccine is expected to be available in a few weeks.
How much will it cost?
“There is a cost because these are FDA-approved vaccines and so, manufacturers said for both Pfizer and Moderna vaccine it’s about $129 or so,” Feagins said.
Feagins said the new COVID vaccine will be covered by commercial insurance, Medicaid and Medicare part D plans.
Dr. Joe Gastaldo, infectious disease doctor with Ohio Health, said while we are seeing an increase in hospitalizations in Ohio, we’re nowhere near where we were during the omicron surge.
“The types of people we're seeing in the hospital with COVID are those that are older who are perhaps not up to date on their vaccines, and really frail individuals like someone with advanced lung or heart disease,” Gastaldo said.
Doctors encourage high-risk individuals to get the new COVID vaccine.
Why should a young, healthy adult get the new COVID vaccine?
“If you get an updated vaccine, you are less likely to get infection and you are less likely to transmit it for a period of time,” said Gastaldo. “For someone who is younger and healthier, if they live with an at-risk individual if they live with someone who's willing to compromise in that context, the right decision for them may be to get the vaccine.”
What if you are healthy and do NOT live with someone who’s immunocompromised?
“It’d be a case-by-case decision, to be honest,” Gastaldo said. “You know, I’d really want to know, did they get the primary series? Have they ever had COVID?”
Will this new vaccine be required by schools or employers?
Pediatrician Chris Peltier said it’s unlikely.
“We recommend that everybody get vaccinated, but I do not anticipate and from everything, I’ve heard that there will not be vaccine covid vaccine requirements or mandates,” Peltier said.
Will COVID vaccines become similar to flu shots? Will we need to get a new one every year?
“Well, clearly we're heading down that pathway,” Gastaldo said. “There's a flu vaccine that a good percentage of the population get every year.
"In fact, when it comes to the COVID vaccine, we're kind of getting away from using the word booster, for the first time ever. The CDC and the FDA have both alluded to that this is very likely to be an annual vaccine, and in that context, we're really shifting away from using the word booster. It's really an updated vaccine. I do expect for there to be an updated vaccine perhaps next year for respiratory virus season like the flu shot."
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