(WXYZ) — A new COVID booster designed to target the omicron variant could be available to metro-Detroiters as soon as next week.
The FDA approved the Moderna and Pfizer shots on Wednesday and today the CDC is expected to give its recommendations.
Currently, 99% of new COVID cases are from the omicron variant and the new shots will help build up immunities against that.
“So it has two different components to it. One is the original vaccine and the other is a vaccine that is made specifically for ba4 and ba5 of the omicron variant,” Dr.Matthew Sims the Director of Infectious Disease Research at Beaumont Hospital said.
Sims says he considers the shot to be more of a new vaccine than a booster.
“It will boost some of the old parts but it’s new, which, you know, means just like the original vaccine, we may need two shots before we get full protection from it," he said.
But Dr. Peter, the FDA's vaccine chief says multiple jabs aren’t the goal.
"The hope here is not to have to give lots of vaccines each year. It's hopefully to have this be the vaccine that holds us up for as much of this, or for the entire season if it can," he said.
As children head back to the classroom, Dr. Sims says the new shot will help keep COVID at bay. Although there are still people getting severely sick from the virus, Sims says they are experiencing a slow down in patients.
“It’s kind of like a roller coaster, right? We could be on the downward slope, but there could be another one coming up,” Sims said.
