But some are not convinced. With many, like Gallagher, requesting another dose, the City and County of San Francisco announced that anyone who received the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine can get a booster shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. On the other side of the problem is the World Health Organization, which said this week that no one should be given booster injections until everyone has access to their first doses.
So far, high-income countries have given around 100 doses of vaccine per 100 people, while low-income countries have given only 1.5 doses per 100 people.
“This means that in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries with the weakest health systems, health workers are working without protection … the elderly remain at high risk,” said Bruce Aylward, MD, WHO senior adviser on organizational change .
Many scientists believe that boosters can help some people. Kuritzkes notes that those who are immunocompromised and have built a weak initial immune response to the vaccine are likely to benefit from a booster. The Advisory Committee on Vaccination Practices (ACIP) reached the same conclusion in July, but the group has no regulatory powers and can only make recommendations.
Otto Yang, MD, professor of medicine and assistant director of infectious diseases at UCLA Health, says the data so far speaks “very strongly” in favor of boosters – especially given what scientists know about other types of coronavirus. But it comes down to how you define βprotection,β he says.
3.5 billion people inπ have not had a single Covid π
Meanwhile, rich nations are:
– Throw away expired vaccines
– Give booster shots
– Offering lotteries to hesitant people
– Hoard cans for next year
πππ ππππ ππππ ππΌππΏππππΎ ππππ πππΏ?
– Madhu Pai, MD, PhD (aipaimadhu) August 4, 2021
For example, there is protection from symptomatic infection and then protection from serious illness and death. In general, antibodies are responsible for the former and T cells for the latter. Since T cells tend to last longer than antibodies, Yang says the vaccine is likely to protect against serious illness longer than symptomatic infections.
βIt’s really hard to tell when people are going to need them. I guess somewhere between 6 months and a year when they get their chance, βhe says. But, he says, while there is no reason to believe that a booster would be unsafe, there is still no data on it. “At the moment you are venturing into the unknown.”
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