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Booster as piece of mind before travel?

Hello, we are all under 50 and have been vaxed and boosted. BUT the latest booster recommendations is for anyone over 65 and 50 if have underlying medical conditions. We don’t fall under the recommended guidelines for the latest booster but are worried about 2 weeks in Italy in July. Anyone else considering or have gotten latest booster as precaution before travel? I know being vaxed doesn’t mean you can’t get Covid. This is just a question. Thank you

Posted by
5687 posts

Studies show that antibodies from a second "booster" start to fade about 4-6 weeks after the shot - and that would mean fading protection against actual infection. (And even then, you may well still get Covid even during that 4-6 week period.) So if you were going to try to get another shot outside of the recommendations, you'd probably want to try to time it closer to your trip. Still, the benefit against severe disease of a second "booster" for someone under 50 (or even under 65) without an underlying medical condition has not been proven. The original shot(s) + first "booster" still provide excellent protection against severe disease.

From a travel standpoint, personally I think you'd be better off planning for contingencies instead of trying to get another shot without being eligible. E.g. what happens if you catch Covid while in Italy? Or the day before you fly home (assuming the US will still require a negative Covid test one day before flying home by July). Consider whether you want to get travel insurance that would cover some/all of the costs of a delay. Consider bringing some rapid antigen tests to Italy with you to test as you go along, so you might avoid surprises such as being infected without symptoms even before your final day-before-return-to-the-US test.

Posted by
30 posts

Andrew H - thank you. Just exploring our preventive care. We have bought travel insurance in case we have to quarantine but as we get closer and I’m reading stories about people testing positive, it’s becoming stressful. Instead of looking forward to our trip, which we are but we’re dreading the testing to return home. Just hoping US changes or stops re- entry requirements.

Posted by
490 posts

Often when I've travelled in the past I've got the flu or a bad cold - often from the long-haul flight. I'm keeping on masking to avoid that as well as Covid. By July I'll be surprised if the USA hasn't dropped the requirement for pre-departure tests.

Basically I'm now treating it as any other infectious disease - but I'll do more mask wearing than I have in the past. We were hoping to get a 2nd booster prior to travel too -but we both now have covid and there is a 3 month stand down after that - so we won't have a booster but we will have good immunity

Posted by
6733 posts

My understanding is that boosters are now available to anyone who wants one (ie not just for geezers anymore), as long as it's been a few months since your last shot. I could be wrong.

I am not a medical professional (although I am married to one). We got our 4th shots back in March, roughly 2 weeks before traveling to Thailand. The interval between our first booster and our second was about 6 months (we are early vaxx adopters), so if you believe the clinical studies, we definitely were "due" (everything I've read says immunity wanes after just a few months....after 6 months, I figured we were running on fumes). We had no trouble finding places that would give us jab #4 -- the biggest challenge was managing all the details on our CDC cards (we each now have two).

As you know, getting re-boosted does not mean you won't catch or spread COVID. It does seem that it re-charges your protection against severe disease, which sounds good to me. It doesn't make you bullet-proof, but as you said, can provide a little peace of mind. Given how virulent the current variants are (we were headed for Thailand, where Omicron was raging), it seems like an easy choice (at least it was an easy choice for me).

I'll keep getting jabbed as often as it seems to provide some extra protection. I'm hoping that by next fall (when we will have gone another six months since the last shot, and coincidentally when we have our next foreign travel scheduled...), there will be a v2 vaccine available, tweaked for the latest variants or taking a more broad-spectrum approach (those are coming eventually, just not as fast as some of us would like). We'll see. I've got plenty of empty space on my double CDC cards now.

Posted by
2668 posts

I can get my second booster now if I want. But as AndrewH said the effectiveness starts to wane; I have heard after three months. So I decided to wait until early July since my trip starts Aug 31. I will be around a lot more people then than now so at greater risk.

Posted by
5506 posts

We were advised to get a second booster just prior to our recent trip. However, we are both 60. I've been out of the country for almost a month, but are under 50s "eligible" for the second booster? It may be a moot point, because my understanding is that there is a more than adequate amount of boosters available.

I will say it gave me some piece of mind to have the 2nd booster, but I wasn't deluding myself that I couldn't contract COVID. We were reasonably careful. We still wore masks on the plane and ate our meals outdoors. Italy still had a mask mandate so that was a comfort as far as we were concerned. Incidentally, many of the travel guide community have been stating that they will continue to mask on planes and other higher risk places in an attempt to prevent COVID and other illness since their income depends on it.

Posted by
2462 posts

My son and his girlfriend, both twenty something got second boosters last week as a precaution in advance of traveling to Europe two weeks later. We did too but are in our 60s.

My view is it can’t hurt and might help.

Posted by
8260 posts

I’ve been eligible for my 2nd booster for awhile, but I am waiting until 3 weeks before I do two back to back tours and am gone for the month of September. My goal is to everything I can to be healthy and help others stay healthy.

Posted by
5687 posts

The CDC has authorized a second "booster" of an mRNA vaccine (four months after last shot) to anyone over age 50...or anyone over age 12 who is "moderately or severely immunocompromised" or anyone over 18 who originally got a J&J and got a second J&J shot as a "booster."

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0328-covid-19-boosters.html

I'm guessing no pharmacist is going to ask you for proof that you are really "moderately immunocompromised" if you are under 50 and really, really, really want a second "booster."

Posted by
1647 posts

Please seek medical advice and make decisions from your personal physician.

Posted by
185 posts

Agree with the recommendations to seek and follow advice from your doctor. I am over 50 but with no underlying conditions that would qualify me otherwise. My doctor recommended the second booster because I am traveling out of the country in June. I have a friend age 30 who got her second booster recently due to her doctor's recommendation. She did have to give a reason why to the vaccine provider before they would give her the shot.

Posted by
402 posts

My husband's PCP (he saw him for his annual last month) wasn't overly concerned about him getting the second booster. His attitude was, get it if you want, but it's not critical. (We got our first booster right before Thanksgiving last year). My husband is over 60 but in excellent health. He is going with our college aged son to a huge music festival in June; we are going to Toronto the week of July 4; I'm going to Copenhagen in August; then we're doing Best of Istanbul in October, so I think we are going to wait a few more weeks and then get our 2nd boosters, in order to maximize effectiveness for travel. But we are also doing 'what if' planning. We both can work remotely, so a positive test abroad would be an inconvenience, but not catastrophic. The worst thing for him would be missing our dog!

Posted by
1 posts

My husband and I are both over 60 with no serious underlying health conditions. We got our 2nd boosters two weeks prior to traveling to Italy in late April. We followed the masking requirements in the hotels and shops. (The preference is N95 or FFP2 masks.) We planned it this way to boost our immunity before travel. I am so glad we did. Rome was shoulder to shoulder crowded as we walked through the city and traveled on the subway and bus. Being recently boosted gave me great peace of mind! Take some home Covid tests with you and test periodically, so that if you do test positive, you can start quarantining right away, instead of finding out the day before you are supposed to fly home. And buy that travel insurance!

Posted by
4256 posts

My husband has a medical background and I was a biology teacher. We have not gotten the 2nd booster prior to our upcoming trip to the UK, even though we are over 65. We're concerned about getting so many shots so close together and plan to get the 2nd booster sometime this fall. We got our first boosters 6 months ago.

EDITED: I think it also depends on what you're experiencing in your own community and family. I only know 3 families in NYC and all of them have had it this spring. In the two non-Covid-fearing states where I live, only one family has gotten it and they had just returned from a cruise. Their 90 yr-old mother , who is the cruise-lover, has been vaccinated and had at least one booster(not sure about a second one) and had only minor symptoms.

Posted by
6228 posts

I got my 2nd booster about 3 weeks before my trip to Germany, just to be on the safe side. FWIW, I am over 65 but relatively healthy and I probably would not have gotten the booster this soon if I wasn't traveling. So far so good! 12 more days to go!

Posted by
1321 posts

@Threadwear - I understand your comment about seeking advice from your personal physician but here's my caveat ... I went to a primary clinic in my home town to get a pcr test to return to work and the dude thought the hole thing was a joke and no one should get boosters or need to test .... be careful ( he was a retired military doctor and this was his retirement gig).

Posted by
5687 posts

I agree with cala and her husband. I would be able to get a second "booster" now but have decided to wait, hopefully until we have a different vaccine e.g. for Omicron, possibly in the fall. None of the current vaccines can prevent a regular Covid infection but all are very effective at preventing hospitalization and death, even without a second "booster."

Posted by
293 posts

Hi dipali_p,

I am in a similar boat--42 and so not yet eligible for the second booster. I agree with the posts above that the most important thing is to have a contingency plan (and insurance) should you fall ill while abroad, but I am also going to talk to my doctor about getting the second booster a couple of weeks before leaving. It seems to me that, since Americans aren't exactly beating down the pharmacy doors, it probably won't be difficult to get an appointment, but I'm in central Virginia. Demand may look very different where you are.

Good luck and safe and healthy travels!
Caroline

Posted by
90 posts

I'm 52 & going to Italy at the beginning of July. My husband & I are planning to get our second boosters at the beginning of June to maximize that 4 week window, as it's now been approved for anyone over 50 regardless of health conditions. Our 20-something girls both just recovered from Covid, so I'll consider them boosted (they no longer live at home, so we weren't exposed). That will leave our 16 y/o as the only one not "boosted" in our traveling party if she doesn't catch it during this current wave. :/
As others have said, consult your doctor & follow your gut.

Posted by
1473 posts

I am an HCP. I agree, that depending on who your physician is, the advice may not be in line with your own decision making process. Docs are human after all. I think it is totally appropriate for us to be discussing this topic without it being overseen by our personal physicians.

Remember, that even if it has been months after your last vaccine, your immune system will "remember" antigen exposure from a previous infection or a previous vaccine. Your chances of serious illness/hospitalization/death are still reduced. If I wasn't traveling soon, I would have delayed my next booster until they came up with a new vaccine designed to address more variants.

Because I am traveling, I decided to get my second booster 3 weeks before traveling. I wanted to avoid any confusion of getting it less than 14 days prior to traveling in case a border official had the 2 week rule in mind. My CDC card was filled up, so now I have 2. My son received his single J&J vaccine in April, 2021 and needed an mRNA vaccine to travel to Germany. Even though he had room on his card, the pharmacy also gave him a new card for his full dose Moderna jab.

I read that Delta FlyReady app was a pain and was worried that both of us having 2 cards would be an issue. But both of our photos (mine of 3 sides/2 cards and his of 2 sides/2 cards) were accepted the first time.

The bottom line is that there is no "right" answer to this question. Get as much information as you can, think it through and make your best decision and don't look back. (similar to buying airfare!)

I'm not sure how you would get one as you aren't eligible right now and I do not think they will open up to others anytime soon. FWIW, my husband caught covid weeks after his booster so they aren't a sure thing. I hear you re the peace of mind. Scrolling this forum is stressful with the reports of people getting stuck after positive tests. I wish the US would stop the test to return home but the Administration doesn't seem to be budging at all.

Posted by
5687 posts

Aimee, the CDC has now opened up a second booster shot to anyone 12+ who is "moderately immunocompromised." (What does that mean?) Most likely, a pharmacist is not going to try to verify that status. Anyone under 50 who wants another shot could just claim they are "immunocompromised."