Let’s take a second to acknowledge the positive: Americans now have three options, green-lit by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), to become vaccinated against Covid-19. This news, and the subsequent distribution across the states, has provided hope and varying levels of relief, but our struggles with this life-altering virus are far from over. Parents are weighing options around vaccinating their teenagers, wondering how to approach the new school year now that the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that vaccinated people continue wearing masks inside, and what, if any, new precautions might be necessary against emerging variants like Delta. Will a COVID-19 booster be needed in the near future?
What Do We Know About Covid-19 Boosters So Far?
The idea of needing boosters, or additional vaccine doses, to remain resistant to Covid-19 or safeguard against new variants continues to be discussed by the media, consumers, company executives, and government officials like Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The New York Times recently explored the possibility, and reminded people of how rare it is that one dose of a vaccine can offer enough protection against a disease. And recently the CDC announced plans for The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to meet on August 13th to discuss the virus and potential booster doses. Meanwhile in other countries, like Germany, plans to share boosters are seemingly underway, though some officials are sharing concerns over getting initial vaccines into bodies first.
Pfizer, one company behind a currently approved vaccine for individuals 12 years of age and older, shared on its website that in its studies of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine (BNT 162b2) in several hundred cases, it appeared effective for at least six months. And the research is ongoing into the possibility of using boosters to potentially renew protections or potentially offer protections from variants. Moderna shared that the company is also studying the possibility of boosters for those already vaccinated, and the effectiveness of its vaccine against threatening variants.
And while Moderna recently shared promising statements surrounding boosters, and Pfizer and BioNTech are sharing promising updates regarding the potential use of a third vaccine dose, given six months after the last of the two-dose vaccine, to possibly offer more protection against Covid-19 and new variants (which could potentially include the Delta variant), there’s likely more research to be done: On July 8, the CDC and FDA offered a joint statement that conveyed, in part, vaccinated people do not require a booster dose at the moment. The research into the possibility is ongoing, and the emphasis is on science and clinical trials to help determine their necessity. More will likely be learned after the CDC’s August 13th meeting of the ACIP.
How Will We Know If We Need A Covid-19 Booster?
While multiple factors will go into determining whether or not boosters or additional vaccine doses might offer more enduring protection, an uptick in “breakthrough infections in fully immunized persons” is a main one, William Moss, M.D., M.P.H., a professor at the Department of Epidemiology, International Health and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, shared with Romper. “Particularly if these infections result in hospitalization or death. Measurement of waning neutralizing antibody levels in the laboratory would be supportive evidence.” Moss is also the executive director of International Vaccine Access Center.
But it’s not just waning antibodies that are under the microscope: “Note that booster doses with the same vaccine, or additional doses with a modified vaccine, may be needed if a variant of concern emerges that can escape vaccine-induced immunity and result in hospitalization and death in fully immunized people,” Moss says.
Moss says recommendations on such matters would come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and potentially the FDA.
Might the determination to require a booster be impacted by, or differ depending on, which particular vaccination a person initially received? “Yes,” Moss says, “the need for booster doses may vary depending upon the type of vaccine a person received as the vaccines have different levels of effectiveness and the duration of immune protection may vary, although we do not know this yet.”
Where Do We Stand In The U.S. Right Now?
Cases are on the rise, though much of the reasoning centers around unvaccinated individuals and the Delta spread. And in August the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) expressed its thoughts to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on the perceived urgent need for authorization of safe vaccinations for children under 12. The bottom line? Yes, companies, government organizations, researchers and scientists are studying whether or not additional vaccine doses or booster shots may offer renewed protections in the ongoing fight against COVID-19 and its emerging variants. To stay up-to-date on the latest findings, head to romper.com/coronavirus.
Expert:
William Moss, M.D., M.P.H., professor, department of epidemiology, international health and molecular microbiology and immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Executive director, International Vaccine Access Center
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