Health experts urging COVID vaccinations as pharmacies get updated vaccines
North Carolina residents are getting ready for their updated COVID-19 vaccinations.
On Tuesday, The Center for Disease Control approved the use of the updated vaccines. Health experts are recommending everyone older than six months to get the shots this fall.
CVS Pharmacy on Hillsborough Road in Durham is one of the few locations to receive the first batch of new vaccines. On Wednesday, they received 70 doses of the updated vaccine.
Miranda Brown, a college student, was shopping at the CVS with her mom for cold medicine after catching a cold while at school in Virginia.
Brown said she knows first-hand how inconvenient it can be getting sick out of the blue.
“I missed three days of class this week. I’ll probably be missing tomorrow. I just want to stay on top of my health and try to miss as little as possible,”‘she added.
Brown said she plans on getting the vaccine when available, but not quite yet.
“I am planning to get it. I will probably wait a couple of weeks until I’m feeling better,” she explained.
The updated vaccines come as much of North Carolina and the country is seeing an uptick in COVID cases. WRAL Data Trackers said COVID has been its most prevalent since early January.
The new shots target a subvariant of omicron, called XBB. More than 90% of COVID viruses circulating now are closely related to this strain, according to the CDC.
“More recently over the last few weeks, we've seen XBB start to evolve and another variant, EG.5 start to come up. The good news is they're pretty closely related,” said infectious disease professor at UNC Dr. David Wohl.
That means the new shots should be effective, according to Wohl, and will help prevent long-term health problems if you do catch it.
“We’re learning that people who are up to date on their vaccines have less risk of long COVID. A double-digit percent of people get long COVID, even with mild COVID. We see people get long COVID. So that’s another reason to get vaccinated,” he added.
With college students back on campus, and the common cold, the flu, RSV and COVID around, Brown said it’s important for her, and everyone, to stay up to date on vaccinations.
“I would say it’s important. I visit my grandfather very frequently and I want to be able to protect him,” Brown said. “I also have some elderly professors that I want to protect, protect myself and my classmates that might be immunocompromised.”
There are slight changes to how COVID-19 vaccines are covered in the U.S. this year. The federal government is aiming to ensure all people can still receive them for free.
The Bridge Access Program will also cover the cost of shots for the 25 million to 30 million uninsured adults in the U.S. Places like CVS and Walgreens will offer them for free under the program until December 2024.
The program will pay for pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS to provide the shots for free, while Pfizer and Moderna will also donate a certain number of doses, according to the CDC.
The CVS on Hillsborough Street in Durham started taking appointments immediately and will allow walk-ins as supplies last.
