The latest wave of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots is expected to become available in Michigan this week.
Health officials say the reformulated boosters protect against the newer, more contagious types of the Omicron variant of the virus. Moderna will provide 70,000 doses of its formula intended for anyone 18 or older, while Pfizer’s 190,000 doses apply to those age 12 and up.
Either group needs to already have their primary vaccination and must wait two months from the time they were last inoculated. Experts say that won’t be a problem for most Americans because the majority of them have not received any COVID vaccination since April.
It’s also the first COVID vaccine released before the completion of clinical trials on humans.
But experts say that won’t impact safety because vaccines against similar COVID variants were tested in humans — adding that the government uses the same procedure to authorize inoculations against the newest strains of the flu.