Topline
A Pfizer researcher said Monday the company is studying Covid-19 infections in fully immunized people in order to understand how long immunity lasts and determine if, and when, a booster shot is needed.
Scientists are investigating how long vaccine immunity lasts.
gettyKey Facts
“We will be looking at real world data to help us understand when we might see a change in vaccine effectiveness,” said David Swerdlow, Pfizer’s clinical epidemiology lead for vaccines, at the Precision Medicine World Conference, Bloomberg Law reported.
Swerdlow said examples of fully immunized people contracting Covid-19—known as breakthrough infections—and other immunological and clinical data would be monitored “closely” for signs indicating “when a booster might be needed.”
Experts and pharmaceutical companies producing vaccines all believe it is likely people will need a third booster dose to bolster flagging immunity at some point in the future, though it is not yet clear when this may be.
Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group Professor Andrew Pollard, who helped develop the AstraZeneca vaccine, said Tuesday it was possible boosters would not be needed this fall, though he noted there was not enough data to decide either way.
Pollard said data from clinical trials showed protection to last for at least the first six months after the final dose and that trials showed protection to be in “quite a good place at the moment.”
Key Background
Most pharmaceutical companies—including AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna—are already working on Covid-19 booster shots, which could address breakthrough infections, immunity fading over time and new variants of the virus. Some are even doing so alongside ordinary vaccine development, like that being tested by Sanofi and GSK. Boosters are especially important assets for the companies developing vaccines as wealthy countries make the transition from mass inoculation campaigns to maintaining immunity, providing a potentially lucrative source of profit for years to come and offering some, such as AstraZeneca, an opportunity to profit on its vaccine for the first time. The focus on boosters and vaccinating low risk groups in wealthy countries as many low income countries struggle to vaccinate even the highest priority groups has been called a “moral catastrophe” by World Health Organization head Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who highlights the risks of new vaccine-resistant variants emerging should the virus be allowed to continue circulating anywhere in the world.
Surprising Fact
Concerns over the efficacy of Chinese-made vaccines—notably Sinopharm and Sinovac, which have both been granted emergency authorization by the WHO—have grown in recent months as Covid-19 has surged in some of the world’s most vaccinated countries that have relied on the shots. The concerns also come amid a lack of public clinical data verifying manufacturers’ claims of effectiveness. Bahrain and the UAE have both begun offering a third Sinopharm booster shot to vaccinated individuals, more recently offering Pfizer shots as well. A spokesperson for Bahrain insisted to Forbes the vaccines were equally effective and the majority of cases were in unvaccinated individuals, but officials would not explain the reasoning behind the boosters for Sinopharm recipients nor the reason for later offering the Pfizer shots.
What To Watch For
Studies are underway to try and determine how long immunity from vaccines lasts and whether this varies between brand or virus variant. The results will inform policies on boosters.
Big Number
10,262. This is how many breakthrough cases have been recorded in the U.S. up to April 30, according to data from the CDC.
Further Reading
Pfizer to Study Vaccine Breakthroughs to See if Boosters Needed (Bloomberg Law)
When Will You Need A Third Covid Vaccine Dose? Here’s What The Experts Say. (Forbes)
We’ll Probably Need Booster Shots for Covid-19. But When? And Which Ones? (NYT)
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The Link LonkJune 15, 2021 at 07:09PM
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When Will You Need A Covid Booster Shot? Pfizer Monitors Breakthrough Infections As Experts Say More Data Is Needed - Forbes
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