Should you receive a vaccine against COVID-19 every year?

ORLANDO, Fla. – New cases of the British variant of the COVID-19 virus are reported throughout the county.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 611 total cases of the COVID-19 variant in the United States, led by Florida with 187 cases.

At least 16 cases of the UK variant have been reported in central Florida.

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News 6 sat down with Dr. Jarod Fox, an infectious disease doctor at Orlando Health to ask him several questions about COVID-19 and new variants.

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Lauren Cervantes: Will people have to be inoculated every year for this as the flu vaccine, or will it be something where you get the initial vaccine and then get a booster every few years?

Dr. Jarod Fox said that right now they do not know the answer to this question. He said most vaccine candidates are working on reinforcement testing for several of the variants, but added that they may not be necessary. Companies work forward and produce the drivers in case they are needed, according to Dr. Fox. He said, as of now, most vaccines are effective against the variants that have been introduced.

Lauren Cervantes: Are young people more susceptible to new variants of the virus?

By now, Dr. Fox said they don’t believe one population is more susceptible than another.

Lauren Cervantes: Are the vaccines available right now against all these variants?

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Dr. Fox told News 6 that both Moderna and Pfizer have done studies and that their vaccines are still effective against variants. That said, he said they are less effective against the South African variant than the UK variant.

Lauren Cervantes: Can the virus mutate to the point that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer effective?

That would be the biggest concern, according to Dr. Fox. He said we are not yet close to that point. He said there is always this possibility if we do not control infections.