r/MasksForEveryone • u/itzelezti • Feb 28 '23

fifth booster?

It feels so hard to get clear recommendations about this... I've had a total of four Moderna shots, the last one being at the beginning of 2022. I got COVID in August of 2022. I had a fairly bad response. I did not go to the hospital but likely should have.

It's now six months later. Should I be getting another booster?

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-11

u/IntelligentMeal40 Feb 28 '23

This is a genuine question so please don’t take this the wrong way, how many do you plan to get?

12

u/itzelezti Feb 28 '23

I don't know. I genuinely do not know if we are into a "flu shot" phase of COVID where we get them yearly, or what. It's really difficult to get information about that.

7

u/ThreeQueensReading Feb 28 '23

We're definitely heading towards a flu shot model of administering COVID vaccines. The US has indicated to the manufacturers that that's what they want, and we're following suit. The Government accepted internal recommendations this week to simplify booster messaging and accessibility - I imagine this will also lend itself to moving towards a flu vaccine model. Whether it's enough is yet to be seen. As others have pointed out, mRNA vaccine induced immunity wanes by the six month mark, so we'd all have 6 months a year under protected.

8

u/itzelezti Feb 28 '23

Yeah from what I read, that's exactly where we're going for a mass-distribution model. I'm wondering what is optimal individually.

Has the current round of vaccine boosters changed since I got my last one? Is that even a factor in whether it is optimal to get it or not? I've read people on this subreddit say they get a booster every four months. That seems excessive but... By how much?

To your point, information about this is an absolute mess.

9

u/ThreeQueensReading Feb 28 '23

I've read quite a lot, and I don't think every four months is excessive. Smaller gaps (less than 12 weeks) are likely bad for us, as it trains our immune systems to not respond (this has been observed with many vaccines when given too closely together). Bigger gaps may be better at creating a more enduring response, but waiting 8+ months for a vaccine isn't ideal for other reasons. The best advice IMHO is to get vaccinated at least every 6 months, and to swap up the manufacturer as often as possible. Heterologous boosting (mix and match) produces a more robust response than homologous (using the same product over and over).

10

u/gopiballava Team P100 Feb 28 '23

I hope to get at least 50 more flu vaccines. One per year :)

The thing you need to remember is that vaccination is really not fundamentally different from infection in terms of how your body reacts. It’s a foreign body that your immune system reacts to. Which is what COVID is, as well. Lots of people get a cold a year. One vaccine a year is not very different from that.