TOP STORY: Newly-approved COVID booster to target BA.4, BA.5 subvariants

With winter around the corner, a COVID-19 surge will be likely to follow. Dr. Susan Kline in the Department of Medicine spoke to WCCO-TV. She says, "We do worry once schools start in the fall, once the weather gets colder and more people to spend time indoors that there will be more chances for transmission of the virus."

The FDA recently approved a new booster shot designed to reduce the risk of more dominant strains of COVID-19 in the U.S. Kline says the hope is these reformulated boosters will give us better protection against new circulating strains. “Even if you had the primary series and you got a booster last fall, or you got a booster last fall and another this winter, I would still recommend getting a booster with this new vaccine with the variant strains,” she said.

Minnesotans have mixed reactions to the new shot, as most feel this will become a yearly vaccine much like the flu shot.