Dr. Anthony Fauci’s words rang in our ears as we wrote. No vaccine will offer indefinite protection, he told NBC News last Thursday. At least not the COVID-19 one he adds. Pfizer and Moderna both forcefully argue for booster shots before winter. But some experts equally strongly disagree. Where should we stand on this?
OPTION ONE: Boost, No Vaccine Will Offer Indefinite Protection
Protection from Moderna and Pfizer peaks a couple of weeks after the second shot. And then it gradually wanes although we don’t know the time frame. The manufacturers suggest boosters after six-to-twelve-months according to Business Insider.
1… Pfizer’s trials showed infection protection dropped from 96% to 84% over 6 months
2… Moderna says its antibodies are ‘not nearly as abundant and powerful’ after 6 months
Both vaccine companies say a booster will noticeably increase antibody reserves. Although Business Insider did imply they ‘have a clear financial incentive to pitch booster doses’ on August 15, 2021.
OPTION TWO: Wait a While: Don’t be Too Over-Reactionary
The global response to the pandemic has been a reaction to an urgent need. We sense this trend continuing with boosters in Israel, China, and now France and Germany too. However, Dr. Paul Offit, longtime vaccine developer on FDA’s vaccine advisory committee has a different take.
Offit argues the vaccine objective is not to prevent every infection. Instead, its goal ‘is to prevent people from being hospitalized with COVID-19 or dying’. And they’re still doing this extraordinarily well, he adds. Therefore the boosters can wait for a while
So Where Should We Go From Here, Do You Think?
No COVID vaccine we know offers indefinite protection. But it’s equally true it can’t help if we don’t have the shots in the first place. World Health Organization pleads for wealthy countries to defer boosters at least until end September. So the developing world can catch up. Maria Elena Bottazzi, a vaccine developer at Baylor College of Medicine agrees.
‘I would rather see more people get protected against severe disease and deaths and hospitalizations, even if we all have breakthrough infections,’ she says. ‘Because that’s what’s going to stop this virus from continuing to mutate.’
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