WHY MIGHT WE NEED BOOSTERS?
It’s common for protection from vaccines to decrease over time. A tetanus booster, for example, is recommended every 10 years.
Researchers and health officials have been monitoring the real-world performance of the COVID-19 vaccines to see how long protection lasts among vaccinated people. The vaccines authorized in the
But their ability to prevent infection is dropping markedly during the delta surge among nursing home patients and others, according to studies the
International data, particularly from
Already,
WHEN WOULD THEY BE GIVEN?
It depends on when you got your initial shots. The plan announced Wednesday is for people to get a booster eight months after getting their second shot of the
Officials are continuing to collect information about the one-shot
WHY EIGHT MONTHS?
“There's nothing magical about this number,” said
“We put the best minds together in the administration, we looked at the best data that we had. We saw a signal," Murthy said. "And now we are sharing our assessment with the public.”
WHO WOULD GET BOOSTERS?
The first people vaccinated in
WHAT DOES THE NEW DATA SHOW?
Bottom line: The vaccines still work well to prevent severe illness, but have been losing some ground recently against infection. It's unclear the exact role that changes in behavior or the more contagious delta variant may be playing. But as delta rose and mask-wearing fell, vaccine effectiveness has fallen.
A study in
Another study didn’t see a big change in how well the vaccines protected against hospitalization. It found that the vaccines were 86% effective at two to 12 weeks after the second dose and 85% at 13 to 24 weeks after.
And
BOOSTER? THIRD SHOT? WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Transplant recipients and other people with weakened immune systems may not have gotten enough protection from vaccines to begin with. They can now receive a third dose at least 28 days after their second shot as part of their initial series of shots needed for them to be fully vaccinated. For those with normal immune systems, boosters are given much later after full vaccination — not to establish protection, but to rev it up again.
WHAT QUESTIONS REMAIN?
Still unknown is whether people should get the same type of shot they got when first vaccinated. And the nation’s top health advisers will be looking for evidence about the safety of boosters and how well they protect against infection and severe disease.
Global access to vaccines is also important to stem the pandemic and prevent the emergence of new variants. Booster shots could crimp already tight global vaccine supplies, but
WHAT ABOUT THE UNVACCINATED?
Dr.
“People who took the vaccine the first time are likely to line up and get their booster,” Swift says. “But it’s not going to achieve our goals overall if all their unvaccinated neighbors are not vaccinated.”
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission., source