New COVID-19 Vaccine Boosters Target Omicron, Coming To MD

MARYLAND — A new COVID-19 booster shot aimed at strains of omicron was approved by federal health officials and will soon be available in Maryland.

On Thursday, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommendations for use of the updated boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for people age 12 and older and from Moderna for people age 18 years and older.

There is not currently an updated booster recommendation for those ages 5 to 11, but it is likely that recommendation will come later this fall.

Maryland health officials have formally authorized the new single-dose bivalent boosters for COVID-19 following approval by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the CDC. As part of the state’s COVIDReady plan, Marylanders are encouraged to get this new shot for maximum protection against the virus and circulating omicron variants.

Gov. Larry Hogan announced Friday that the state has pre-ordered 157,000 doses of the new booster. Pharmacies and local health departments in Maryland are expected to start administering the COVID-19 booster shot early next week, according to the governor.

“This new bivalent booster shot is another important tool in our toolbox to help Marylanders stay COVIDReady,” Hogan said. “While federal guidance has made it confusing at times for people to know if and when they’re eligible, everyone 12 and older will be able to get this new shot."

Until now, booster doses have targeted the original coronavirus strain. The new "updated boosters," as the FDA calls them, will tweak the existing vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to take aim at both the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants. That's the lineage that is now dominant in the United States and predicted to continue to circulate.

The new boosters are combination, or bivalent, shots. This means the doses contain half the original vaccine and half the new formula targeting omicron. The bivalent booster shot adds omicron BA.4 and BA.5 spike protein components to the current vaccine in order to target newer, more transmissible variants.

The updated shots will be open to anyone who already had their primary vaccinations at least two months before receiving the booster dose.

The United States has purchased more than 170 million doses from the two companies. Pfizer said it could ship up to 15 million doses by the end of next week.

The original omicron wave brought Maryland record-breaking case totals and a near-record number of COVID hospitalizations. The state peaked at 3,452 COVID patients in the hospital on Jan. 10, including 544 in intensive care units.

COVID testing in Maryland also peaked as the omicron wave arrived in early January, with more than 89,000 tests done on Jan. 2, with 26 percent of them positive for the respiratory disease, according to the Maryland Department of Health's COVID dashboard.

Nationwide, the coronavirus pandemic has killed 1.04 million people since the pandemic began in 2020, including 14,919 in Maryland.

To date, Maryland has administered nearly 12.9 million COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. In the state, 58.3 percent of residents 12 and older who are eligible for a booster dose have received at least one.

The Maryland Department of Health pre-ordered 114,000 Pfizer and 43,600 Moderna bivalent booster doses for local health departments, federally qualified health centers and providers across the state. This is in addition to allocations that the federal government has sent directly to pharmacy partners.

While some doses are already available in the state, administration of the new shot is expected to begin widely after Labor Day, the governor's office said.

Maryland's GoVax Call Center Outreach, which is available 7 days a week, will begin a new call and text-based outreach campaign to eligible Marylanders next week. The call center continues to offer people homebound vaccination options and rideshare options for people with transportation access issues.

The FDA reports a better immune response in people who received the new bivalent booster. As of Friday, BA.5 accounts for 79.2 percent of sequenced cases in Maryland and 90 percent of sequenced cases in the country, according to the Maryland Department of Health. Both BA.4 and BA.5 are predicted to keep on circulating in the United States this fall and winter.

Residents can visit covidvax.maryland.gov to find a vaccine provider, or call 1-855-MDGOVAX (1-855-634-6829) to make an appointment.

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