Millions of North Americans are asking should we wait for an Omicron booster in the light of Pfizer and BioNTech announcements. Moreover, Moderna’s own version is already in Phase 2 of an internal trial. Those vaccines should specifically target the Omicron variant raging across the continent so this is quite a dilemma.
Approximately Half of Us Already Had the General Booster
The COVID-19 boosters currently available, and given to 50% of eligible Americans appeared during the Delta surge. They are purpose-made for that variant and there’s a possibility the Omicron boosters will target their own version more effectively.
CNN Health chatted with CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen on January 27, 2022. Her primary job is professor of health policy and management at George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. They asked her directly should we wait for our COVID booster until we can receive an Omicron-specific one?
Dr. Leana Wen’s answer was an emphatic no we should not. ‘Everyone eligible to receive a booster should do so now’ she added. Her key reasons for saying so are as follows:
1… There is growing evidence a third shot of Pfizer or Moderna, or a second vaccine following Johnson & Johnson sustains strong protection against Covid-19.
2… Last week, three large new studies from CDC found those boosters protect against severe illness, and reduce the likelihood of contracting coronavirus.
3… Moreover, the Omicron-specific vaccines are still in clinical trials. The trials will take months to complete and we don’t know what the results will be.
4… Finally, if the results are positive that will be months from now too. Therefore people should not delay their boosters with Omicron still surging.
Dr. Leana Wen closed the interview by observing the virus is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. Therefore it makes sense to use the vaccines available, so it does not dominate our lives.
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