Doctors are urging people to get the new bivalent boosters that were approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week, but there are some concerns when it comes to getting the right one.
It appears Pfizer's updated booster looks a lot like the old one, same gray cap with gray labeling.
Moderna's updated booster for adults has a dark blue cap, and the shot for kids six to 11 years old has the same color scheme.
Last week, the FDA authorized Pfizer’s modified booster for people ages 12 and older; Moderna's shot was authorized for those 18 and up.
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"It's pretty important right now to just clarify when people do call in to their doctors office or pharmacies that they clarify which booster they're getting," Scott Roberts, Yale Medicine infectious disease doctor, said.
The CDC said the new booster provides broader protection for new sub-variants.
"Any time we have a new weapon in our arsenal its always good, there will certainly always be an initial uptake, but the question is what percentage of the population is going to go out and get this?" Ulysses Wu, system director of infectious diseases Hartford Healthcare, said.
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Sandy St. Laurent is set to get her third COVID booster shot on Friday.
"I would do it every six months if I had to, or every three months, whatever it takes, I'll do it," she said.
Doctors said, if you have trouble getting an appointment for the brand of booster you want, it's okay to mix and match, if you have had COVID recently, you should wait until symptoms subside and you receive a negative test, and if you are thinking about getting another shot like the flu vaccine, doctors say there are no side effects from having both shots in your system.
If anything, they said you may walk away with a 24-hour cold and a sore arm.
"At the very least, it's a nice insurance policy of trying to keep you out of the hospital as well. Any little bit helps," Wu said.
The U.S. government has purchased 170 million doses from both companies. Shots are free, and 200 million people could be eligible.
