TAMPA, Fla — The COVID booster shot is now recommended for those 16 years and older.
The Food and Drug Administration gave emergency authorization for 16- and 17-year-olds to get a Pfizer booster shot. Shortly after, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said teenagers 16 years and older should get their booster.
Health professors from the University of South Florida agree.
“There’s pretty good data that would suggest that two shots are not going to be quite enough antibody to protect against the Omicron variant," Dr. Jill Roberts said.
Roberts is an associate professor at USF's school of public health. She has been closely monitoring the spread of COVID and the developments with the vaccines.
Roberts answered several questions in relation to the latest recommendation about certain teens getting their booster shot.
Why should 16- and 17-year-old teenagers get their booster shot?
“Why that particular age group is really important is because they’re highly mobile," Roberts explained. "They’re in the workforce, they’re going to schools – all these different scenarios where they can become pretty good spreaders of the Coronavirus."
Any circumstances where a booster isn't necessary?
"That’s highly unlikely," Roberts said. "The one exception I can honestly think of is if you already had a breakthrough case because of Delta and your breakthrough case was in the last 90 days – your antibody amount is going to still be pretty high."
Is it okay to get the Pfizer booster shot if your original doses were Moderna or J&J?
"I know a lot of people will ask this, can you mix and match between Pfizer and Moderna, yes you can," Roberts stated. "You can actually mix and match across all three of them."
Can a booster shot protect against the Omicron variant?
“Pfizer’s study was pretty clear that with two doses of the vaccine, the amount of antibody isn’t high enough to prevent breakthrough cases," Roberts said. "That’s why they made an immediate recommendation for doing the booster shot for everyone."
When specifically speaking about Omicron, studies predict, yes, boosters can be protective.
“Their recommendation is that we can actually prevent a pretty serious wave with Omicron if we just go ahead and boosted," Roberts explained.
Where can an eligible teenager get a booster shot?
"Under an emergency use authorization, that massively expands who is allowed to give those shots. The most important thing is it expands it out to pharmacists," Roberts said.
This means a teen can get their booster at the same places adults can.