Should you get a second COVID-19 vaccine booster?
Clinics are seeing an uptick in vaccination appointments after updated CDC guidance, but some newly eligible Minnesotans question the timing. Maxine Bogan gave Jean Butala of Bloomington her second booster shot on March 31 at the community vaccination site at the Mall of America. The CDC is encouraging second booster doses for people 50 and older, people with
New federal guidance on second COVID-19 booster doses has left many Minnesota vaccine recipients questioning when and if they should get another shot.
Monica Heltemes, 51, eagerly sought COVID-19 vaccinations last spring and a booster dose in November, but the occupational therapist isn't sure she wants a fourth dose now. The Dayton, Minn., woman figured a breakthrough coronavirus infection in December already gave her an immunity boost.
"Cases are low in Minnesota," she said. "So if I think I would get any additional boost from a second vaccine, then I would want to wait to take it until a bigger threat was on the horizon."
While newly eligible people snapped up pharmacy vaccine appointments this week, Heltemes was hardly alone in her indecision. Tuesday's federal guidance allowed second COVID-19 booster shots for people who are 50 or older, have weakened immune systems, or have only received two doses of the less-effective Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but it didn't specifically recommend that people seek them.
The expansion makes it easier to issue a stronger booster recommendation in the event of another pandemic wave, but for now even infectious disease experts are uncertain. Dr. Frank Rhame, an Allina Health virologist, said the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bypassed their vaccine advisory committees, which could have issued clearer advice.
"Maybe the CDC will give us more," said Rhame, who led a local arm of the J&J vaccine clinical trial. "It's probably a good thing, but it's too speculative to provide a good basis for a recommendation so far."
The federal guidance stratifies Minnesota beyond a simple 4.2 million vaccinated and 1 million unvaccinated people 5 and older. There are 330,000 Minnesotans who only completed the first of a two-dose series, 1.6 million fully vaccinated people who haven't received boosters, and 2.2 million people who have received first boosters and are up to date.
Some Minnesotans already are in the new category: double-boosted. Second boosters are allowed four months after first boosters because of evidence that immunity wanes over time.
Jean Butala, a 66-year-old retired teacher from Bloomington, got her second booster dose without an appointment on Thursday at the state's community vaccine clinic at the Mall of America. It was a no-brainer, as well, for Ann Dropps of Annandale, because she knew three people younger than 40 who suffered severe COVID-19 earlier this year, and two of them died.
"One still on a ventilator and will need a miracle to survive … need I say more," she said in a post to the Minneapolis Vaccine Hunters Facebook group.
Pandemic risks are low right now in Minnesota, which has identified 4.2 million coronavirus infections and 12,410 COVID-19 deaths overall. Nearly one in four COVID-19 tests were positive in mid-January as the fast-spreading omicron variant swept across Minnesota. That rate dropped to 2.9% in the week ending March 24.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Minnesota also declined from 1,629 on Jan. 14 to 189 on Thursday.
Cari Trousdale, 63, said the low viral spread gave her pause, but she made a booster appointment for next week because she has diabetes and is at elevated COVID-19 risk. The Mendota Heights woman drove 800 miles collectively last year to get her first COVID-19 vaccine doses in Wahpeton, N.D.
"I'm pretty willing to do whatever to help temper my risks of getting COVID," she said.
Health officials urged people not to confuse questions about a second booster with the proven benefits of COVID-19 vaccination. People who were boosted during the omicron wave were 21 times less likely to die than unvaccinated people, the CDC reported this week.
"There does seem to be some advantage to getting the repeat booster, although the biggest benefit is seen when you go from unvaccinated to vaccinated," said Dr. John O'Horo, a Mayo Clinic infectious disease specialist. "The boosters are really providing an additional benefit on top of that."
Mayo doctors discouraged waiting for boosters because of recent infections, because immunity levels after COVID-19 can vary in strength and duration.
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