As we covered in yesterday’s newsletter, deciding whether to get a COVID-19 booster shot feels a little like a choose-your-own adventure game, with rules based on which shot you initially got as well as your age, medical history and job.
Further complicating matters, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said eligible people can get boosted with any of the three available vaccines, no matter which one they got the first time around. This approach is known as “mixing and matching.”
But what are the pros and cons of branching out versus staying brand loyal?
So far, there’s only been one mix-and-match study on the vaccines available in the U.S. It was not designed to find the “best” vaccine combination, but rather to examine the overall safety and efficacy of mixing and matching. Even still, it had some interesting findings.
Mixing and matching produces a safe immune response similar to or stronger than that from an additional dose of the original shot.
Combining the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine with one of the mRNA-based vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna produced more antibodies than getting a second dose of J&J. Researchers have seen similar results when they mixed doses of AstraZeneca (which uses technology similar to that in J&J’s shot) with Pfizer-BioNTech.
Moderna boosters seem to produce more neutralizing antibodies than any other option, regardless of which shot the person first got.
You may also have specific concerns depending on your age and gender. For example, a very small number of women under 50 developed serious blood clots after receiving the J&J shot, while in rare cases the mRNA-based vaccines have been associated with heart issues in young people, especially young men and teenage boys. If you fall into one of those demographics, choosing a different shot might give you peace of mind.
In the end, though, experts don’t want you to stress too much about which combination you receive. If you’re eligible for a booster, it "doesn’t hugely matter” which one you get, Brown University’s Dr. Ashish Jha tweeted yesterday. Any combination should strengthen your immune response to the coronavirus.
And, of course, if you haven’t gotten vaccinated at all yet, doing so is still a very good idea. While boosters can give extra protection to those who are vulnerable, the original shots are overall still working well to prevent severe disease and death.
About 498 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of this morning, of which more than 411 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 57% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
Almost 242.5 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 4.9 million people have died. On Oct. 21, there were 457,126 new cases and 7,589 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 4.7 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 45.3 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. More than 733,000 people have died. On Oct. 21, there were 80,072 new cases and 1,903 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Oct. 22, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Pfizer says its pediatric vaccine is more than 90% effective at preventing symptomatic disease among 5- to 11-year-olds, according to study results released today. The data on Pfizer’s shot for children, which comes in a smaller dose than the one used for adults, are currently under review by the FDA. If the FDA authorizes the shot and the CDC recommends it, young kids could start getting vaccinated in the coming weeks.
When the Delta variant sent hospitalizations soaring this past summer, the big question was whether it actually caused more severe disease or if it was simply more contagious than previous COVID-19 strains. New CDC data suggest it’s the latter. CDC researchers analyzed hospital data from 14 states and found no evidence that Delta caused a higher proportion of people to have severe outcomes, compared to earlier strains. Delta’s contagiousness, combined with low vaccination rates in many parts of the country, likely accounted for the surge.
COVID-19 has killed as many as 180,000 health care workers globally, prompting the World Health Organization to call yesterday for “immediate and concrete action” to protect these workers. Improving access to vaccines in developing countries is a huge piece of that puzzle. In both Africa and the Western Pacific region, for example, fewer than 10% of medical workers have been vaccinated, the WHO says. More immediately, the agency asked countries to track data on infections and deaths among health workers and to implement policy changes that could protect them, though it did not specify what these policy initiatives could be.
COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise in Britain, which lifted all pandemic restrictions—to great fanfare—in July. Infection rates were high even when British officials decided to lift masking and social-distancing measures this summer, but they gambled on the hope that widespread vaccination would prevent most serious cases and deaths, the New York Times reports. As vaccine efficacy starts to wane with time and winter approaches, pushing many social events inside, that strategy appears not to be holding up as well as officials hoped.
Some conservative U.S. lawmakers and pundits recently criticized Australia for its strict COVID-19 prevention measures—and the Aussies aren’t having it . Right-wing commentator Candace Owens and Texas Senator Ted Cruz have been among those criticizing Australia for its COVID elimination approach, which includes strict and long-lasting lockdowns. On Twitter, Cruz called the approach “tyranny,” drawing a passionate response from the chief minister of Australia’s Northern Territory. “We don’t need your lectures, thanks mate,” he wrote. “You know nothing about us. And if you stand against a lifesaving vaccine, then you sure as hell don’t stand with Australia.”
Two prominent anti-vaccine activists known for pushing health misinformation are organizing a large conference in Nashville this weekend, NPR reports. While the facility holding the event asks unvaccinated individuals to wear masks, the conference’s organizers have said attendees will not have to adhere to masking or social-distancing policies. Local officials downplayed the potential impact of the event, given Nashville’s relatively high vaccination rate—but with presumably low vaccination rates among event attendees and only about 48% of Tennessee’s population fully protected, one of the lowest rates in the country, it could lead to new cases.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Angela Haupt.
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