New COVID vaccine approved by FDA to arrive in Pittsburgh area soon

The FDA just approved a new COVID vaccine and shipments will be arriving at Pittsburgh hospitals this week.

Allegheny General Hospital staff plans to clear out old vaccines to make room for the new ones in the coming weeks.

Scientists tweaked the new COVID vaccine to protect from the impact of mutations of the virus, like the Omicron variant XBB.1.5.

Dr. Brian Lamb with AGH Internal Medicine said going forward, we are going to need to think of the vaccine like the yearly flu shot.

He says the new COVID vaccine is not a booster shot. It’s an updated vaccine.

As for side effects, when your immune system ramps up, that’s when you get fatigue, muscle aches and chills — all signs that your immune system is responding to the vaccine and working.

Only 17% of people eligible for the COVID booster in 2022 actually got one.

“We are getting at that point of why isn’t this over? It’s the evolution of the disease…So we need to keep protecting ourselves from it,” said Lamb

Just like in prior years, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems will be the first to get the vaccine.

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