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New COVID vaccines rolling out amid surge in cases

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Published  September 2, 2024 10:25pm EDT
Coronavirus Vaccine
FOX 13 News

Updated COVID vaccine rollout

Bay Area doctors say there’s a late summer surge of COVID, and that has them urging people to get the latest vaccines approved by the FDA.

TAMPA, Fla. - Fall is almost here, and with it comes concerns about a spike in colds, flu, and COVID.

The FDA has approved new COVID vaccines to target new variants, pushing them out early this month to combat a surge in infections.

"It's actually because of the spike. I think we're having more and more people getting the virus. And like I said, it's not it's not being very aggressive. But I think there is a significantly associated loss of productivity," said Dr. Fabi Saba, a Tampa Bay area physician. "Over the last three or four days, we've had on a daily basis four or five newly diagnosed COVID patients. That was not the case during the summer months."

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Dr. Saba says getting the vaccine is important for a few reasons.

"If you're vaccinated, you're less likely to have the severe symptoms and your symptoms are going to be milder than people who are not vaccinated. If you're vaccinated, the duration of the disease could also be short term, so your chances of transmitting the virus is less, and your chances of being more contagious because it affects the viral count as well," said Dr. Saba.

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He says COVID-19 is not going away any time soon, even as the virus is no longer considered a pandemic. The new shots come at a time when doctors hope people will also get their flu vaccine, and all the major pharmacies should now have the updated vaccines.

"Now is the time. Now is the high time from here on to get the flu vaccine, so I think people will be getting them mostly together."

Coronavirus variants circulating this fall primarily cause symptoms such as chills, fever, runny nose and stuffiness, according to physicians.

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