Fall COVID-19 booster clinics distribute updated bivalent boosters

School nurse Lisa Tripp administers a COVID-19 vaccine at a partnership clinic with Inspire Diagnostics.

For all community members, the district provided both vaccination and booster shots, including the most recent booster with increased resistance against the Omicron variant.

This fall, following FDA approval of the second bivalent Covid booster for those 12 and older, the district partnered with Inspire Diagnostics to provide all four COVID-19 shots: the first two primary vaccines, as well as the updated bivalent boosters. The three clinics — were on Sept. 30 at the Saratoga High Cafeteria, Oct. 7 at Los Gatos High’s room F111 and Oct. 15 in the LGHS Community Room.

Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown that the updated bivalent booster elicits “higher binding antibody responses against multiple other variants (alpha, beta, gamma and delta), than the [previous bivalent] booster,” and greater protection against the circulating Omicron variant. Since protection from the vaccine efficacy wanes over time, the FDA recommends people to receive boosters when they’re due.

“The COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters, continue to save countless lives and prevent the most serious outcomes of COVID-19,” FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in the August 2022 FDA press release. “As we head into fall and begin to spend more time indoors, we strongly encourage anyone who is eligible to consider receiving a booster dose with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants.”

For high school students under 18, the CDC recommends the Pfizer-BioNTech booster in contrast to the Moderna booster, intended for people 18 or older. Inspire Diagnostics distributed more than 420 shots for the district as of the Oct. 7 clinic, and has done so by order of registration. Because vaccines were limited, people were placed on a waitlist if supply ran out.

Sophomore Aadhya Naveen got her second booster at the Sept. 30 clinic. She said she experienced slightly worse aftereffects compared to previous COVID-19 shots.

“My arm was really sore, and I was pretty fatigued and felt chills for the entirety of the next day,” Naveen said.

Economics teacher Hanna Chen got her second booster at that same clinic and had no hesitation in doing so, since she wanted to get any additional protection against COVID-19. For her, the bivalent booster’s aftereffects were lighter than her previous vaccines and boosters, particularly because the staff administering them were efficient and quick.

“They did a really good job,” Chen said. “And I mean, it feels like a shot. Shots don’t feel good, and I was a little tired the next day, but I was fine.”