'Better chance of not getting sick': Valley doctors encourage people 50 and older to get second COVID booster
The second booster is now an option for adults 50 and older and people who are immunosuppressed.
Valley doctors and researchers say if it’s been at least four months since you received the first booster, you qualify for the second booster.
“Two things will happen,” said Dr. Sohail Rao, CEO and president at DHR Health Institute for Research and Development. “It will encourage the memory cells to produce antibodies and it will also create new memory cells. You’re not only boosting the response of the immune system, but you're expanding the response of the immune system.”
With permission from the Food and Drug Administration, DHR Health started administering the second booster back in January to 500 frontline healthcare workers, those who are immunocompromised and people 65 and older.
Data shows the second booster can help protect those more vulnerable to subvariants of omicron that are starting to emerge, Dr. Rao said.
“Particularly in the light of the fact that we have now another outburst of omicron ba.2 and also ba.3 is right around the corner,” said Dr. Rao.
You can get the second booster at pharmacies, vaccine clinics and doctor's offices.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the omicron ba-2 variant is the dominant strain in the U.S. Valley doctors also say no one should have any health concerns about a fourth shot.
“A notion that too many vaccines are harmful is actually totally an absurd notion,” Dr. Rao said.
If you’re under 50 years old and wondering when you can get a second booster, the FDA is scheduled to meet this Wednesday to discuss it.