The FDA is expected to approve a second booster shot for those ages 50 and older on Monday, which will generate a statement from the CDC making those shots available. But the health agency will likely stop short of actually recommending the shots.
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Most people who have already received a booster don't necessarily need to get a second one, and people who've gotten boosted and been infected with the more recent omicron variant have already, in a way, had their second booster with the added immunity.
"The data shows that getting a fourth booster is more important for those over the age of 60 than for everybody else," said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert and professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University on KCBS Radio's "Ask an Expert" with Jason Brooks and Melissa Culross on Monday.
"That's probably why the FDA and CDC is going to say, 'Well, let's approve this fourth dose for people over the age of 50,'" said del Rio.
Those who've been vaccinated and boosted already still have a relatively high immunity against severe disease and death, he said, but protection against infection overall has decreased significantly.
There's no risk to those who don't necessarily need to get the vaccine but still want to, but there is no real benefit either, said del Rio.
People seeking to start traveling again this year who would benefit from the fourth booster should aim to get the shot two to four weeks before their trip, "because that's when you're going to get sort of that peak protection against infection," he said.
As cases of the new BA.2 variant surge across Europe, it's still unclear when that surge will transfer over to the United States. "With this virus we have learned that predictions don’t work very well," said del Rio.
It is safe to say BA.2 will hit eventually, but those who are vaccinated and boosted don’t need to worry. "If you're somebody who's never been vaccinated, you have a lot to worry about," he said.
And while it's hard to predict the future, it's likely that boosters will become a more standard, annual shot in the years going forward, said del Rio.
"We're going to be using this over and over," he said. "I think it's going to depend really on what the pandemic does."
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