HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) -- Moderna is following Pfizer in asking for FDA authorization for a fourth COVID shot.
We asked an expert if and when this would be approved. The basic answer is it's tough to know.
On one hand, Pfizer is asking for authorization only for people 65 and up, while Moderna is asking for authorization for all adults.
In asking the Food and Drug Administration for authorization for a fourth shot for all adults, Moderna said it wants "to provide flexibility" to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and medical providers to determine the "appropriate use" of a second booster dose.
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"In my professional opinion, this you know, we will continue to have boosters as different variants come out, but I also think that this is going to be a yearly vaccination, just like the flu shots," said Dr. Nancy Mimm, assistant professor of population health nursing at Harrisburg University.
Mimm says the vaccines teach your immune system how to fight off the virus.
"Over time, as we age, or if we get ill and we have comorbidities that make our immune systems weak, we need another reminder and that's another dose of vaccination," Mimm said.
One of the new concerns is an omicron subvariant called BA.2, which the CDC says makes up nearly a quarter of all new cases in the U.S.
"We do know it's extremely contagious, just as contagious as the measles. And so we have to be really careful with this," Mimm said.
It's between 30% and 80% more transmissible, but there is good news.
"It doesn't appear to be any more severe, nor does it appear to evade immune responses of vaccines or prior infection," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Biden's chief medical adviser on COVID-19.
But which vaccine company's direction should you follow?
"We really need to talk with your practitioner and ask them what you recommend for me individually," Mimm said. "So that you know going forward what best practices are for your own personal toolbox."
"I suspect we probably will end up needing to give that second booster to high-risk people. Whether others will need it or not, just not sure yet," said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
Mimm says the approval process for the FDA and CDC is very stringent and that's the way we need it to be, to follow evidence-based practice.
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