The United States is preparing for the possibility that a booster shot will be needed between nine and 12 months after people are initially vaccinated against COVID-19, a White House official said Thursday.
While post-vaccination immunity duration is being studied, booster vaccines may be required, David Kessler, chief science officer of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 response group, told a conference committee meeting.
“The current thinking is that those who are more vulnerable will have to go first,” he said.
Meanwhile, Albert Bourla, Chief Executive of Pfizer Inc (PFE.N), said people are ‘likely’ to need a third booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines within 12 months and will require annual injections, CNBC reported based on his comments from April 1, which were made public on Thursday. (https://cnb.cx/2Q4MXS1)
Initial data has shown that vaccines from Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and partners Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and BioNTech SE maintain most of their effectiveness for at least six months, but how much longer has not been established. read more
Even if that protection lasts much longer than six months, experts have said that fast-spreading variants of the coronavirus and others that can arise can lead to the need for regular booster shots, similar to annual flu shots.
The United States is also monitoring infections in people who have been fully vaccinated, Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, told the House subcommittee hearing.
Of the 77 million people vaccinated in the United States, there have been 5,800 such breakthrough infections, Walensky said, including 396 people who had to be hospitalized and 74 who died.
Walensky said some of these infections occurred because the vaccinated person did not develop a strong immune response. But the concern is that in some cases they occur in people infected with more contagious virus variants.
Earlier this month, Pfizer and partner BioNTech said their vaccine was about 91% effective in preventing COVID-19, citing updated study data with more than 12,000 people fully vaccinated for at least six months. read more
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