FDA working to update COVID vaccine guidelines

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Are you confused about how many COVID shots and boosters you have received and when you need more? You are not alone.

The FDA is looking to make this process easier to understand.

There are still options out there about if this should be an annual vaccine or what time of year that could happen, but the FDA advisory committee did vote unanimously to simplify the process.

At the Chatham County Health Department you can see a cooler full of different brand options for the vaccine and they also have a long chart how many doses patients should get based on a number of factors.

All of this information can get confusing for the providers and the patients.

The Chatham County Nurse Manager says she is happy to hear the FDA is looking to streamline the process.

“We are used to a new vaccine every five to 10 years and we have concrete guidelines and things like that. COVID obviously happened very quickly, thankfully some research had already been done about the vaccine so they were able to produce that quickly but because the virus is changing so rapidly, there was a need for the vaccine to change rapidly as well,” said Chatham County Nurse Manager Sierra Peebles.

Peebles says there is no timeline yet on how soon we could see changes to the guidelines of when to get the next COVID vaccine but says until then , she encourages you to ask questions about if you are eligible for another booster shot.

The health department is still giving out COVID vaccines five days a week and they say the numbers of patients has dropped but they still do have people come in each week to get the vaccine.

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