San Antonio Doctor: Recent COVID Patients Can Delay Updated Shot, Everyone Else Should Get It Now

Updated COVID-19 vaccines are now available at most pharmacies in the San Antonio area, including Walgreens, CVS, HEB and Walmart, as of Sept. 6, 2024. University Health System has a limited supply of the updated shot and is not yet offering it to the public.

UT Health Science Center San Antonio said its more than 60 primary care providers will not offer the new vaccine at their UT Health San Antonio offices, citing low demand. In a statement, the institution said it encouraged those who want a booster to use the "widely available and convenient options at area pharmacies."

The new mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna target the KP.2 variant, while the updated Novavax shot targets JN.1. The dominant strain in circulation is KP.3.1.1, a descendant of JN.1. Other JN.1 subvariants, including KP.3, KP.2.3 and LB.1, are close behind.

The Food and Drug Administration ordered the KP.2 formulation in June, hoping it would work better against the Omicron subvariant JN.1 and its many descendants than last year's XBB vaccine. Moderna and Pfizer were able to produce that formulation, and Novavax had already begun work on its JN.1 update.

The timing, however, meant the vaccines were ordered after the surge in KP variants had begun. Three months later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says COVID levels in the nation's wastewater remain "high," and many people have already been infected.

That raises questions about who should get the new shot. Dr. Jason Bowling, a UT Health San Antonio professor, infectious disease specialist and hospital epidemiologist at University Health, said people who had COVID in the last two to three months can wait, because most have some natural protection for that limited period.

After that window, Bowling said, they should receive the updated COVID vaccine along with a flu shot. "You can wait 2-3 months to allow your immune system to return to baseline," he wrote in an email, "but you should definitely still get the updated COVID vaccine (and flu!) as we anticipate another surge in late fall/early winter when natural immunity will have waned."

For those who have not been infected during the current wave, Bowling urged vaccination as soon as possible. The advice applies to everyone 6 months and older, unless a doctor has said otherwise.

Bowling acknowledged that offering updated vaccines this late in a surge, after so many people have been infected, is not ideal. "I agree it would have been preferable to have had this new vaccine available a few months earlier to blunt this surge," he said.

The larger challenge, he said, is persuading people to get updated vaccines at all. "Timing of rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is challenging given that the overall uptake in the U.S. has not been optimal," Bowling said, adding that an estimated 22% of eligible adults received the 2023-2024 vaccine.