While we would all love to leave COVID-19 in the rearview mirror, the stark reality is that the virus is still circulating among us, with the elderly and persons with compromised immune systems the most vulnerable to becoming seriously ill and dying from the virus.
Even otherwise healthy individuals, especially if they are overweight, run the risk of becoming seriously ill from the disease in the short-term and potentially suffering the lingering and debilitating effects of long-COVID, which has been well-documented, though it remains poorly understood.
Fortunately however, the CDC has approved the updated COVID booster vaccine that has been proven to be an effective and safe preventative measure against both catching the disease in the first place and, if infected, mitigating its most harmful effects.
The reasons we need an updated booster are three-fold: First, the effectiveness of the vaccine diminishes over time. Thus, the shots we received last year are significantly less protective today than they were 12 months ago. Second, the virus has mutated in the past year and the updated vaccines will provide protection against this ever-changing virus. Third, as we enter the fall and winter months, families will be gathering, with many having traveled in airplanes and returning from school, which are breeding grounds for the virus, and therefore looming as potential threats for parents and grandparents. We would note that from January to July of this year, 88 percent of deaths from COVID-19 were among people who were 65 years or older.
We urge all of our readers, regardless of age, to get the latest COVID-19 booster as soon as possible, both for our own health and that of our friends, co-workers, and family members.