AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — The Problem Solvers posed five booster questions to Dr. Michelle Barron, the senior medical director of Infection Prevention at UCHealth after U.S. health officials announced their recommendation that patients who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine get one booster shot eight months after their last does.

Question 1– Are the side effects from a booster shot expected to be more or less severe than the previous two shots?
“Plan for having similar side effects, or if you are one of the lucky people that didn’t have side effects you may have none as well,” Barron said.

Question 2 – Can patients who received the Pfizer vaccine get Moderna for their third shot or vice versa?
Dr. Barron said, “The recommendation right now is to get the same vaccine you got previously.”

Question 3 – Is there anyway to tell if your vaccine effectiveness is waning?
“The answer is no,” Barron said. “Certainly you can get an antibody test, but we discourage you from doing so because we have no way of interpreting that clinically.” 

Question 4 – If a patient had COVID, and also got fully vaccinated, do they need the booster?
Barron said, “That question I think remains to be answered. The answer right now is maybe.”

Question 5 – Will the booster be rolled out in stages to different groups like the first vaccines?
Barron said, maybe. “We’re hearing it may be again over 65, healthcare workers, people in long-term care facilities.” She added, “We want to make sure we are giving it to the right people, at the right time.”