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What is Bivalent Booster? – What are the Types of Bivalent Vaccines?

What is Bivalent Booster – The risk of COVID-19 is still raging in the United States and all around the world. The Centers for Disease control and prevention is still suggesting Americans get themselves vaccinated with the latest and updated Bible end booster shot. The CDC believes this booster shot can provide greater protection against currently dominating sub-variants of the virus.

At this point, you might be thinking, what is a bivalent booster? Why has every health expert in the country, along with the Centers for Disease Control and prevention health, started pushing the use of bivalent boosters? There are so many questions, and today, we will try to answer each of those questions.

The whole buzz related to bivalent booster shots started when the Food and Drug Administration of the United States asked every COVID vaccine manufacturer in the country to work on variant-specific booster shots. 

People have been having debates on the effectiveness of COVID vaccine along with this booster shot for a very long time. No public health department made any official statement regarding the effectiveness of COVID vaccine until the FDA asked for variant-specific booster shots.

What is a Bivalent Booster Shot?

A bivalent booster shot is their COVID vaccine that is administered after two months of full vaccination. The latest violent booster shot is known to contain the strain of the currently dominating variant of COVID-19 along with the strain of the original virus.

Most vaccines in the world contain the strain of the virus along with some immunity formula to help our body understand how to fight against that virus. A similar thing is also happening with the COVID vaccine and its booster shots.

Every COVID vaccine in the world contains the strength of the original variant of the virus so that our body can understand how to fight it.

On paper, it might look like the best-in-class idea. In reality, the problem with these vaccines is that they can get unaffected if the virus changes its shape. A similar thing also happened with the COVID-19 virus when it changed its shape and became a beta variant alpha variant, currently dominating omicron.

That is why the Food and Drug Administration of the United States asked the COVID vaccine manufacturers in the country to work on variant-specific vaccines.

Two of the most popular COVID vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer, and Moderna came up with their bivalent booster shots that are known to provide better protection against currently dominating variants of COVID-19.

What are the Types of Bivalent Vaccines?

Yes, you might get surprised to know, but there are two different types of bivalent COVID vaccine in the United States.

Then the Food and Drug Administration of the United States asked every COVID vaccine manufacturer to work on variant-specific vaccines. Pfizer and Moderna came ahead and submitted their bivalent booster shots for approval.

Both vaccines are made with a little bit different logic, and the effectiveness can be a little bit different. The Food and Drug Administration of the United States, along with the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, do not prefer any bivalent COVID vaccine.

Recipients can research on their own and make decisions according to that.

Pfizer Bivalent COVID Vaccine

The first type of bivalent COVID vaccine is launched by Pfizer. As for the company, Pfizer’s bivalent COVID vaccine is going to contain the strain of the original COVID-19 virus along with currently dominating sub-variants of COVID-19. 

Yes, Pfizer’s violent COVID vaccine will have BA4 and BA5 variants of COVID-19 in its vial. Health experts around the world believe that this vaccine can provide immediate protection against currently dominating sub-variants of COVID-19 in the country.

Moderna Bivalent COVID Vaccine

The second most popular COVID vaccine manufacturer in the country also came up with its modern bivalent COVID vaccine on the directions of the Food and Drug Administration. Moderna bivalent COVID vaccine is a little bit different vaccine as compared to Pfizer’s.

Moderna bivalent COVID vaccine is going to contain the strain of the original omicron virus along with the original COVID-19 virus to provide double protection. Yes, it will contain the strength of BA1, which is the official name of the omicron virus. Health experts believe that modern bivalent COVID vaccines can protect any upcoming variant of omicron along with protection against BA4 and BA5.

What is Bivalent Booster
What is Bivalent Booster

What is the eligibility to receive a bivalent vaccine in the United States?

Along with its approval, the Food and Drug administration also mentioned the eligibility criteria to receive bivalent COVID vaccine in the country. 

The Centers for Disease control and prevention is also acting on the given directions, and everyone eligible according to the eligibility criteria is requested to get vaccinated as early as possible.

As you might already be aware, the FDA has given its nod to two different bivalent COVID vaccines in the country. The eligibility criteria to receive both of these vaccines are a little bit different.

Kindly remember each bivalent COVID vaccine is a booster shot, and it is only available after getting fully vaccinated with the primary series. It is a booster shot, so kindly treat it like a booster shot, not a single-shot vaccine.

Pfizer Bivalent Vaccine

  • Everyone above the age of 12 is eligible to receive Pfizer bivalent COVID vaccine in the United States.
  • You must be fully vaccinated with a primary series of COVID vaccines to receive Pfizer bivalent vaccine.
  • You must maintain at least a two months gap between your last shot of the COVID vaccine, including the booster shot and Pfizer bivalent vaccine.

People who have successfully received the primary series of COVID vaccines along with the bivalent COVID vaccine will be considered up to date with the COVID vaccine. The previous status of up to date with the COVID vaccine won’t be eligible if you have not received violent COVID vaccine.

 Moderna Bivalent Vaccine

  • Everyone above the age of 18 will be eligible to receive the Moderna bivalent COVID vaccine in the country.
  • You must be fully vaccinated with any primary series of COVID vaccines to receive it.
  • You must ensure a gap of two months between your last shot of the COVID vaccine and the Moderna bivalent COVID vaccine.

Side Effects of Bivalent COVID Vaccine

Even after 1 ½ year since the start of COVID vaccines in the country, a huge number of Americans do not trust these vaccines. First of all, there was huge propaganda against the use of COVID vaccines on country-owned social media and other platforms.

After that, the Food and Drug Administration limited the use of the Johnson and Johnson COVID vaccine in the country. As a regular person, you might think that it was a fair decision to limit the use of a vaccine that is known to cause severe damage, but a huge number of Americans did not look in the right way.

That is why the discussion regarding any COVID vaccine or its booster shots is not completed unless we talk about the side effects.

The Food and Drug Administration of the United States has already acknowledged some common or general side effects of bivalent vaccines, along with the probability of some severe ones.

  • Fever
  • chills
  • Headache
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Body pain
  • Joint pain
  • Pain on the side of the injection
  • Swelling on the site of injection

These are among the most common symptoms or side effects of the bivalent COVID vaccine. Most people are going to experience one or more of them. The best part about these general side effects is that most people won’t even require any medication or medical assistance to recover from these symptoms.

Yes, you will get better without even any medical assistance in just one or two days, depending on your immunity.

If your symptoms are getting worse each day or you are experiencing anything else after getting the vaccination, then you should consult with your healthcare provider as early as possible.

Where to get bivalent COVID vaccine in the country?

Before we completely wrap up this session, let’s take a quick look at the places where you can get yourself vaccinated with bivalent vaccines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a press statement mentioning that Bible and COVID vaccines will be available at all COVID vaccine nation sites throughout the nation without any coat.

That means Americans can get themselves vaccinated without even spending anything. If you want to get yourself vaccinated with the Bible and COVID vaccine anywhere in the country, you can use the below-given buttons to create an online appointment.

Most pharmacies, including CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid, suggest everyone create an online appointment before visiting any of their vaccination sites.

Can I mix and match the bivalent COVID vaccine?

Yes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have mentioned that the latest bivalent COVID vaccine will also fall in the mix-and-match policy of the federal government. That means that people who have received the primary series of COVID vaccines made by Moderna can also receive the bivalent booster shot made by Pfizer.