Switching Arms for COVID-19 Boosters: A Simple Trick for Stronger Immunity.

Normally, when getting vaccinated, the arm used doesn't matter much. But a new study suggests switching arms for your second COVID-19 booster shot might be a clever way to strengthen your immune response (Curlin et al., 2024)

Here’s the cool part: researchers followed nearly 1,000 people who received their booster in either the same or opposite arm as their first dose. They found those who switched arms had:

• Higher levels of antibodies against the virus, both overall and against specific parts like the spike protein (Curlin et al., 2024).

• This immunity boost grew stronger over time, lasting up to 14 months! (Curlin et al., 2024)

What’s the science behind it? It seems switching arms activates different immune pathways, leading to a more powerful response (Curlin et al., 2024). This opens up a potentially simple way to make existing vaccines even more effective.

It’s important to note this is still early research, and more studies are needed (Curlin et al., 2024). But it’s an exciting step forward that could impact future vaccination strategies. So, who knows, maybe next time you get boosted, you’ll be rolling up a different sleeve for an even stronger defense against COVID-19!

Reference:

Curlin, M., Duffy, D., Adams, W. M., & Ko, A. Y. (2024). Contralateral second dose improves antibody responses to a 2-dose mRNA vaccination regimen. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 134(2), e153224. https://www.jci.org/articles/view/176411