Emory University is currently not requiring the updated COVID-19 bivalent booster vaccine, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization on Aug. 31, Chief Resilience Officer Amir St. Clair wrote in an email to the Wheel. However, he noted that Emory strongly recommends students follow public health guidance to best protect themselves.
“The [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] recommends everyone stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccination, to include getting all primary series doses and boosters for their age group — which now includes this new bivalent vaccine booster for all those 12 and older,” St. Clair wrote.
The University will continue to review public health guidance and community health indicators to determine if there is a need to change the current COVID-19 vaccine policy, St. Clair said.
Emory Student Health Services is also exploring the availability of the updated booster vaccines and the distribution guideline.
“More information [will] be shared with the campus community as availability of the vaccines increase and further details emerge,” St Clair wrote.
Updated bivalent boosters are currently available in Georgia, St. Clair added. Students can schedule an appointment through the federal vaccine locator website or at a local pharmacy, including the CVS locations at the Point and Emory Village.
The new booster vaccine “is designed to better protect against the Omicron subvariants most prevalent in our community,” St. Clair said.
Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech produce the updated boosters which offer more specific immune protection because it contains a new mRNA component. In total, the booster vaccine consists of two mRNA components that not only target the spike protein of the original COVID-19 strain, but also the common region shared between the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants accounted for almost 95.2% of all infections in the United States as of Oct. 1, compared to 40% in mid-June, and are predicted by the FDA to be the major subvariants circulating this fall and winter.
Currently, individuals over the age of 18 are eligible to get the Moderna bivalent booster vaccine, while individuals over 12 are able to receive the Pfizer booster. St. Clair added that anyone who fulfills the age requirement is able to get the boosters at least two months after their primary or approved monovalent booster vaccination.
The FDA’s authorization of the bivalent booster came during a significant increase in COVID-19 cases on campus in the initial weeks after classes resumed, which have since declined. There have been 32 cases reported among students and faculty and staff in the last 10 days, according to the University’s COVID-19 dashboard. This is a 92.3% decrease compared to the 414 10-day case count reported on Aug. 31.
“The quick decline in positive cases over the past week is likely attributed to fewer density events taking place, more testing being conducted to help interrupt transmission and the effectiveness of following isolation procedures to help limit further transmission,” St. Clair wrote.
