Why you might need to get an omicron-specific Covid vaccine booster shot, even though you never got one for delta, according to Moderna’s chief medical officer.
Omicron-specific vaccines will provide more protection against the highly contagious variant, which could circulate for some time, Burton says."Omicron, I would say, is here to stay," he says."I think cases will come down, but it's going to be around."
Experts also warn that delta — which is less transmissible, but leads to more severe symptoms — is still circulating, and will keep coexisting with omicronBut Burton says a delta-specific vaccine is unnecessary: Moderna's standard Covid vaccine, also known as mRNA-1273, already provides"fantastic protection" against delta, he says.
"1273 protects you against the original strain, which we really don't hear about much anymore, and gives you great protection against delta," Burton says, noting that severalFor example, in a study published on Dec. 15 in , researchers found two doses of Moderna's Covid vaccine were 94% effective against delta infections in the first two months after vaccination, and 80% effective after six months. Protection against hospitalization also remained high, at 98%.funded by Pfizer and published in October, Pfizer's Covid vaccine was 93% effective against delta a month after the second dose, but only 53% effective after four months.