Should you get another COVID vaccine? New vaccine formulations approved amid summer surge

COVID-19 cases are surging in Spokane and a new round of vaccines have been approved, but the coronavirus may seem in the rearview for many.

“I mean, I know it’s still around and affecting people, but I guess I don’t hear about it,” said Spokane resident Renee Brown while enjoying a day at Pig Out in the Park.

She had “not thought” about taking precautions for the virus in a long time.

“It’s just one of those things that happened and now is now,” she said.

Brown is not alone. Polling shows Americans’ concern over contracting COVID is near an all-time low, and majorities see the pandemic as over.

Despite this attitude, local and national health officials are warning the public of a surge in cases that newly approved COVID vaccines could slow.

Surge in Spokane

While no where near the heights of the pandemic, this summer has seen a surge of COVID in Spokane and across much of the country. Levels of the virus in Spokane wastewater spiked in June and then hospitalization rose in the months following. There were 36 COVID hospitalizations in Spokane County in April and 138 in August.

“Its hard to tell if we’re at the peak right now or if it will keep increasing over the next month or months,” said Spokane Regional Health District epidemiologist Mark Springer. “The slope has decreased so hopefully we’re hitting a plateau.”

The number of hospitalizations in Spokane County does not match previous surges during the pandemic, which peaked at January 2022 at 737 COVID hospitalizations. COVID deaths in the county are also down to the single digits for much of this year.

That reflects the “broad base of immunity” in Spokane based on past vaccination and infection, Spring said – acknowledging the current wave is “no delta or omicron surge.” Still the surge is a sign to get vaccinated again or for the first time.

“While a healthy individual might not be at high risk of having severe outcomes, I don’t want to get sick for four or five days or a week. I don’t want that. So for me the surge is a very good cue, if we have a new vaccine that’s coming out, I want to be getting that,” he said.

New vaccines

Late last month the Food and Drug Administration approved new formulations for three different COVID vaccines developed by Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax. These new vaccines are adapted to more recent variants of the virus that are circulating and should be available in pharmacies and doctors offices.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone 6 months and older receive one of the updated vaccines even if they have been previously vaccinated. Those who have had a recent COVID infection should wait at least 90 days to get vaccinated.

But Spokane Regional Health District health program specialist Kayla Myers said demand for new formulations of the COVID vaccine has greatly fallen from when the first one was introduced.

“We had great participation with the first round of the very first vaccine, and then it just slowly just starts trickling down and down,” she said.

Across Washington state 76.6% of residents have had at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, according to Department of Health data. But that falls to only 19.5% of residents who are up-to-date as of last year’s updated dose. In Spokane County only 14.7% of the population is up-to-date.

If getting another vaccination now is a hassle, Myers recommends everyone should get a COVID shot when they get their annual flu shot in the fall.

“If you think about it, the COVID vaccine has become a lot like the flu vaccine,” she said. “Maybe you don’t get flu every year. But there are people around you who, if they did get the flu, it would be pretty detrimental to them. You are protecting your community and yourself from severe complication when you get the COVID or flu vaccine.”

Contrasting this community approach, Dr. Seth Cohen, medical director of infection prevention at the University of Washington Medical Center, pointed to a more individual approach when considering COVID vaccination. While maintaining the vaccine is safe and helpful to anyone, he said the “benefits really depend on who you are and what sorts of medical conditions you have.”

“People who will see the biggest benefit are those who are over the age of 65, people who have underlying medical conditions and particularly people who are immunocompromised,” he said. “For a lot of people now that have more immunity, either due to vaccination or to natural infection, you know the risk of really severe infection thankfully is much lower than it was when the pandemic first began.”

For those who are healthy and may be at less risk for severe infection, the COVID vaccine could still be helpful, he added. While you may not get severe complications, COVID can still “be disruptive” for work, school and travel.

“Getting a vaccine is the best way to not get COVID in the first place,” he said.

Cohen said he has seen the summer surge at his hospital in Seattle, which is a sign that COVID still should not be seen as “just the common cold.”

“We’ve been seeing a significant summer surge much higher than anybody anticipated,” he said.