130 – COVID Booster Update for Aging Adults (9.7.22 Edition)

Dr. K discusses what aging adults & families should know about the new fall COVID boosters, the latest Omicron variants, and more. Plus who died of COVID this summer and how to know if you’re at high risk of severe COVID.

She covers:

The current COVID situation & variants in the US

Newer variants overseas that might evade immunity

What’s in the new bivalent fall COVID booster

How the fall booster was developed and tested

Why there has been debate about the fall COVID booster

Data review: who died of COVID this past summer?

The data on the benefit of boosters so far

Dr. K’s predictions regarding benefits of the fall COVID booster

When to get your fall COVID booster

Do you need a booster if you’ve had Omicron?

Summary of Dr. K’s COVID booster recommendations, including which booster, if you have a choice

What to know about Paxlovid and what to do if you catch COVID

Related Episodes:

129 – COVID Update for Aging Adults (7.21.22 Edition)

Related Resources:

BHWA:

COVID & Aging Adults: 2022 Updates

COVID Vaccination for Aging Adults: What to Know & Do

To track COVID data:

NY Times COVID Tracker

Wastewater:

CDC Wastewater Surveillance

Biobot.io wastewater tracker

Walgreens Test Positivity Tracker

OurWorldInData.org Coronavirus Data Explorer

CDC Nursing Home Covid-19 Data Dashboard

CDC Variant Proportion Tracker

CDC COVID cases and deaths by vaccine status

Fall COVID booster resources:

CDC ACIP Meeting Slides from September 1, 2022

For human and mice data on Omicron booster: Moderna slides, Pfizer slides

CDC Datasets in this update: