Should you get the COVID-19 booster now or wait for the new vaccine? We asked the experts

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) - Just a few short weeks separate the public from a new covid vaccine formula aimed to target the Omicron subvariants Ba.4 and Ba.5, as well as the original strain of the virus. And that has local experts suggesting if you haven’t already received your booster, but are ready to get it, it’s ok to wait just a bit longer.

“Previously we didn’t have a timeline on these so we had been recommending as soon as you’re eligible for your booster, get it right away. Now with numbers going down slightly, I think it’s reasonable to wait another couple weeks,” Sanford Health Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Avish Nagpal said.

Nagpal says he expects the new boosters will roll out shortly after Labor Day once approved by the FDA.

“I don’t expect a delay,” he said.

Officials say Ba.5 accounts for nearly 90 percent of new covid cases in the U.S., which Nagpal says he expects to continue.

“At least for the next couple months. And then, who knows if it’s a new omicron variant or a completely different variant,” he said.

He says while people continue to get sick with covid, hospitalization numbers remain low in North Dakota thanks to vaccines and new medications. Nagpal adds unlike the last two years, he says he’s more optimistic about infection rates staying steady heading into a new school year.

Experts say a more detailed timeline for the new boosters will be released in the coming weeks, and add you are able to get your flu shot *and* you covid shot at the same time.

Currently, only adults ages 50 and up, as well as the immunocompromised, are eligible for a second booster four months after receiving their first.