Bivalent Booster helps prevent symptoms of XBB.1.5: study

January 26, 2023 – New data on the bivalent COVID-19 booster shot shows it halves the risk of symptomatic infection with Omicron’s now predominant subvariant, XBB.1.5.

The results from the CDC are the first to show how well the bivalent booster works in the XBB.1.5 era, since the booster was developed before the strain appeared.

“With this data, we see there is a benefit that may convince some people to enroll and get a bivalent booster,” said Peter Hotez, MD, PhD. BNC News. Hotez is a vaccine expert and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

About 15% of people in the United States have received the bivalent booster since it became available last fall. The term “bivalent” means that the booster was developed to treat both the original virus and the newer version of the virus known as Omicron.

The new CDC analysis looked at 29,175 cases of people reporting COVID-like symptoms from a national pharmacy test dataset spanning December 1, 2022 through January 13, 2023. Overall, 34% of people who tested negative reported having received the bivalent booster. Of those who tested positive for XBB.1.5, 21% said they had received the bivalent booster.

XBB.1.5 and its relative XBB currently account for 52% of diagnosed cases, CDC data watch.

A national advisory committee is meeting today to discuss future recommendations for COVID-19 boosters, including ways to simplify the process in hopes that more people will get vaccinated.