Doctor weighs in on 2nd COVID booster shot

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - “We’re certainly seeing an increase in cases of all ages across the state, fortunately we’re seeing less severity of illness. So, we are seeing an increase in hospitalizations and an increase in severely ill patients, but nothing to the levels we were seeing before,” said Dr. Amy Rabalais, Associate Medical Director with Ochsner Medical Center in Baton Rouge.

Right now, only those of you who are 50 and older or are 12 and older with a compromised immune system are eligible for a second booster shot. That leaves a lot of you wondering how to protect yourselves while cases climb.

“So, everyone at this point is eligible for two vaccines, talking about the Pfizer series, so two of the Pfizer injections with one follow up booster. So, everyone, at this point, is eligible for at least 1 booster,” Dr. Rabalais added.

Dr. Rabalais says that’s way more to work with than we had two years ago. But she suggests until the eligibility is expanded, you should continue to abide by the mitigating measures that folks have been following since the beginning. Things like staying home when you feel sick, washing your hands, keeping your distance. Some suggest the current boosters are ineffective against the new variants that are currently floating around. But Dr. Rabalais says that should not matter.

“For an average person who is under 50 that does not have any significant other illnesses, what we call comorbidities, the odds of them getting severely ill are very low. Getting a booster now does not preclude getting another shot later on down the line. But I think we have to follow the best advice that we have at any moment,” Dr. Rabalais continued.

Word has it we could potentially see another shot rolled out sometime this fall that would be more tailored to combat these new variants we’re seeing now.

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