As kids return to the classroom, we know it's likely that more cases of the flu and COVID, will return too. Every fall, an updated flu shot is released, but this year, medical experts say we'll also have an updated COVID booster.
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00:00 As kids return to the classroom,
00:02 we know it's likely that more cases
00:04 of the flu and COVID will return too.
00:07 Every fall, an updated flu shot is released,
00:09 but this year, medical experts say
00:11 we'll also have an updated COVID booster.
00:14 Johns Hopkins Medicine Associate Professor
00:16 of Pathology, Heba Mustapha, says the flu shot
00:19 and COVID booster will be two separate shots.
00:22 The new COVID booster formula is based on the XBB variant
00:26 that mutated from the Omicron variant
00:28 and has been circulating for the past six months.
00:30 But there's a new variant catching scientists' attention.
00:33 Mustapha says it's closely related to the XBB variants
00:37 and therefore, the new booster will give us
00:39 better protection than the original vaccinations.
00:42 She says that's why it's so important
00:44 to get updated boosters.
00:46 Vaccinations have actually helped reduce
00:48 the severity of the infection
00:50 and they developed that baseline immunity,
00:53 but also boosting the immune system
00:55 with those booster doses will actually
00:57 become very helpful in maintaining
00:59 that resistance and antibody levels
01:01 so we can try to reduce the spread of those new variants
01:06 and make sure that a lot more people are protected,
01:08 especially those vulnerable populations.
01:11 When looking at the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus
01:14 and waves of infections, Mustapha says
01:17 there's enough evidence to show how effective
01:19 boosters can be to reduce the spread
01:22 and prevent serious infection.