Here's How To Know Which COVID Booster You Should Get
A lot has changed with COVID-19 vaccines since they first debuted back in December 2020. We’ve seen a few hit the market, one casually exit stage left, and several updates since then. So how do you figure out which COVID booster to get these days, especially amidst cold and flu season?
But even if you’ve mentally checked out from COVID-19 news for a bit, you’re probably aware that the Food and Drug Administration recently approved and authorized updated COVID-19 vaccines. These vaccines are better designed to target the existing COVID-19 strains that are circulating than past versions of the shot, with the goal of offering you better protection. Basically, it’s a good idea to get one of them to lower the odds you’ll get sick and become seriously ill if you happen to get COVID-19.
Of course, we’re talking about a few vaccines to choose from. With that, it’s only natural to wonder which COVID updated vaccine is best in 2023. Should you go with Pfizer? Moderna? Novavax? There’s a lot going on here.
An important point: Infectious disease doctors stress that the best COVID-19 vaccine is the one you’ll actually get. That being said, there are a few different things to consider when choosing the right shot for you. Keep this info in mind before you roll up your sleeve.
Meet the experts: Amesh A. Adalja, MD, is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Thomas Russo, MD, is a professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York. William Schaffner, MD, is an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
What are the available updated COVID vaccines?
There are three updated COVID vaccines on the market right now:
Pfizer Comirnaty: Pfizer’s vaccine was the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized for use in the U.S. It’s an mRNA vaccine, and works by encoding a portion of the spike protein (what the virus uses to latch onto your cells and make you sick) found on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, per the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Your body then makes antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, which stick around to protect you in the future.
Moderna Spikevax: This vaccine is also an mRNA vaccine and works in the same way as Comirnaty.
Novavax COVID-19 vaccine: Novavax debuted its COVID-19 vaccine in 2022 and its updated version was authorized by the FDA in October. This vaccine works a little differently than the other two: It directly injects the spike protein into your body, along with something called an adjuvant, and that causes you to form an immune response, the CDC explains. “This is similar to a more traditional vaccine, like the flu vaccine,” says Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York.
Worth noting: While plenty of people call these shots “boosters,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other medical organizations have made it a point to call them “updated vaccines” since they’re just tweaks to the original vaccine formulas.
How are the updated vaccines different from past ones?
The vaccines are different from past versions in the strains of the virus that they target, says Amesh A. Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “All of the vaccines differ from prior versions in that they are targeted exclusively against the XBB.1.5 Omicron variant and are not targeted at the ancestral or any other strain,” he says.
Otherwise, though, they’re similar to previous vaccines, Russo says.
Do you need to continue getting the same vaccine?
Nope. “You don’t need to get the same vaccine,” says William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. While some people prefer to go with the same vaccine they originally used, there’s no rule that says you have to do this, he says.
“Some people want to mix and match the mRNA vaccine with the Novavax vaccine because they think they’ll get a broader immune response,” he says. “But that’s still being studied.” Meaning, if you got the Pfizer vaccine in the past, some believe you might get even more protection if you try Novavax this time around. But—we repeat—that's still being studied.
Russo agrees. “Grab whatever is available,” he says. “We don’t have any clear indication that one is better than the other.”
When To Get Your Updated COVID Vaccine
Doctors say it’s a good idea to get your updated COVID vaccine ASAP, given that we're now in respiratory virus season. “The time to do this was yesterday,” Dr. Schaffner says.
If you haven’t gotten your flu shot yet, it’s okay to get it at the same time as your COVID vaccine, Adalja says. Just keep in mind that there’s a greater risk that you’ll have side effects if you do this, Russo says. “People should use separate arms to minimize the injection site pain,” Adalja says.
Potential Risks Of The Updated COVID Vaccine
The CDC stresses that the updated vaccines are safe and effective, noting that hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. received COVID-19 vaccines under “the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history” and that the FDA continues to monitor the safety of these vaccines.
Common potential side effects of the vaccine, according to the CDC, include:
Pain, swelling, and redness on the arm where the shot was given.
Tiredness, headache, muscle pain
Chills
Nausea
Fever
The mRNA vaccines have been linked with an increased risk of myocarditis, inflammation of a particular muscle in the heart called the myocardium, but this side effect is rare, Russo says. In fact, the American Heart Association (AHA) says that you have a higher risk of getting myocarditis from COVID-19 than you do from the vaccine.
If you’re interested in getting the updated COVID vaccine but have questions, talk to a doctor. They should be able to help give you personalized guidance.
Bottom line: The updated COVID-19 vaccines are now available. According to infectious disease experts, one isn’t necessarily better than the other—all that matters is that you get vaccinated.
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