朱莉·埃斯特利克

新年伊始，健康问题总是萦绕在我们的心头. In 2022, that means considering the latest COVID-19 variants and the best ways to protect ourselves and our loved ones. 对一些人来说，这意味着在时机成熟时再打一针加强针. (如果你还没有接种初级疫苗系列，请跳到为什么现在? 在第6页.)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends booster shots for anyone aged 16 or older. (If you are moderately or severely immunocompromised, talk to your doctor first.) Although the first coronavirus vaccines people got were highly effective at producing antibodies to fight against COVID-19, 在某一点上，保护开始减弱, 博士解释说. Paul Mayer, medical officer for the 此外县 Department of Health and Environment. A booster shot aids in further ‘boosting’ the antibodies in the immune system. Early evidence also suggests a booster provides the best protection against the new Omicron variant.

“The first vaccine primes your immune system to make antibody producing cells,” he says. “如果你再次挑战免疫系统，它会产生更大的反应.”

在科罗拉多州, you are eligible for a booster shot if you are 16 years or older and were fully vaccinated with a Pfizer vaccine series more than 6 months ago, 或年满18岁，并在6个多月前注射过Moderna疫苗. 如果你有单身的约翰逊 & 约翰逊(J&J)拍摄时间超过2个月，您也符合资格. (这些要求截至12月27日，请查看covid - 19.科罗拉多州.Gov /vaccine有任何更新.)

It’s important to note that adults can choose any kind of booster regardless of what they got in the past. The CDC recommends that any of the available approved vaccines for COVID-19 can be given as a booster (except for 16 and 17 year olds, 目前只被批准用于辉瑞的疫苗). 然而, several studies have shown that mRNA booster vaccines—Pfizer and Moderna are the ones authorized for use in the U.S.-比字母J更有效&J助推器，即使你收到了J&作为你的主要疫苗，Mayer指出. 此外，在12月，疾病预防控制中心建议成年人接种mRNA疫苗超过J&由于担心J的罕见副作用&J.

混合和匹配疫苗

医疗服务提供者报告说，他们收到了很多关于助推器的问题. 特别是, whether patients should stick with the same brand of vaccine or mix and match their primary vaccine and booster from different manufacturers.

这真的是个人的喜好, 梅尔说, 也是科伦拜恩医疗系统的初级保健医生. “If you got the Pfizer series and you know that in your immune system it did fine, 然后注射助推器. 重要的是在你有资格的时候尽快拿到它, 所以如果现代娜助推器是可用的, 这样做.”

无论你选择哪种助推器，都要为可能的反应做好准备. Common side effects are headache, fatigue, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes, among others. 三分之二接种COVID-19疫苗的人会有一些副作用, 但副作用通常会在一两天内消失. 这比感染COVID和可能遭受更严重的症状要好, 而且持续的时间更长, 梅耶指出.

为什么是现在?

就像我们看到的Delta变体一样, 现在是欧米克隆, the virus tends to mutate to forms that are more transmissible with higher viral loads. “The process of mutation is part of the natural process and will continue,梅耶尔说. “在这一点上，我们最好的防御措施仍然是接种疫苗和增强剂. 一些新批准的药物也带来了希望, 不过未来几个月的供应将会受到限制.”

The unfortunate reality is that someone who is vaccinated can still get and spread COVID, but you are at a much lower risk of a poor outcome if you experience a breakthrough case. “The vaccine is very effective at preventing hospitalization and death from COVID—it’s 90 percent protective that you won’t die of COVID,梅耶尔说. “没有十全十美的疫苗. Sadly there are some breakthrough cases, but overall you are way better off getting the vaccine.”

在本地, a very small fraction of patients treated for serious COVID-19-related illness at area UCHealth hospitals around Thanksgiving were fully vaccinated, Ryan Rohman说, chief operating officer of UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital and UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies. “在科罗拉多州, more than 80 percent of adults are vaccinated against coronavirus (as of late December), but inside our hospitals we’re seeing the other 20 percent who are unvaccinated making up the majority of our patients suffering from COVID-19.”

因为疫苗的效力会随着时间的推移而减弱, “we recommend getting a booster dose to get back to highly protective levels and prevent severe illness and hospitalizations amongst most people,罗曼说.

加强疫苗不仅可以保护那些接种过疫苗的人, 但它也可以增强自然感染产生的免疫力. That’s because protection for those who have already had COVID can wane over time, and while studies are still being done to determine how long natural immunity typically lasts, even one vaccine shot can offer additional assurance that you are less likely to get severe COVID. And natural immunity does not appear to be very effective against the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

Another good reason for everyone to get a booster: It’s no longer older adults with less robust immune systems filling up our ICUs. The average age of a COVID patient in Colorado hospitals is in their 50s as of mid-11月. 是的, 现在出现在医院的是在校学生的父母, 哪些会给家庭带来创伤.

For Rohman and his exhausted staff, the human toll of the virus is all too real. “A year ago when the very first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the state of Colorado were administered to health-care workers at UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital, we couldn’t wait to get the vaccine out to everyone and put an end to the pandemic. It was like we could see a light at the end of the tunnel … but here we are, still fighting. Still seeing very sick patients in our hospitals who never thought they’d get this disease or that it would be this bad.”

然而, 他希望能有更广泛的途径和资格获得疫苗和增强剂, 高效的治疗方案, 继续采取防护措施，比如戴口罩, 距离, 和测试, 住院和死亡人数将会减少.

“简单地说:疫苗，包括增强剂，是我们的第一选择. 1 defense in the fight against COVID-19, and our best tool to keep people out of the hospital.”