On May 18, senior officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) noted that people who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus (C.C.V.) may still need booster shots within a year.
Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said that the current versions of the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus (CCP) vaccines are very effective in preventing outbreaks, so “it would be great if the practice of vaccine upgrades could be needed only after one year.
U.S. media CNBC pointed out that Markos’ statement was said to come amid the multiple variants of the coronavirus (CCP virus) ravaging multiple countries, and his words suggest that people who may still be fully vaccinated will need to make up a newly developed booster vaccine some time later.
Markos said the current situation is still uncertain and “we still don’t know” and that “the time could be longer or shorter, but …… It’s just something we have to figure out as we go along.”
Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting FDA director, said U.S. regulators and scientists still don’t know how far the immune levels of vaccinated people would need to drop before they would be susceptible to the virus.
“We’re just hoping that there won’t be variants that can evade our vaccine,” she said.
FDA officials made the comments after drugmakers and some scientists argued that fully vaccinated people may need booster shots of the vaccine and may need additional shots each year just like the seasonal flu vaccine.
Last week, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said the U.S. is planning for the potential need for a booster shot of the coronavirus (CCLV) vaccine “just in case.
Full vaccination with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines requires two shots, while Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine requires only one shot, and audiences will be considered fully vaccinated after about two weeks of vaccination. But some company executives now say they expect the vaccine’s protection to wane over time.
Ugur Sahin, CEO of Germany’s BioNTech, told CNBC in a recent interview that researchers have found that eight months after vaccination, antibody responses to the virus have declined in vaccinees.
“If we provide a booster, we can really increase the antibody response even beyond the level we started with, which could give us real peace of mind that we’re protected for at least 12 months, maybe 18 months”, Sahin said. He noted that this is important at a time when all variants are emerging.
If Americans need a supplemental booster shot, the U.S. government may need to make arrangements with pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide additional doses and develop a vaccine distribution plan.
According to the CDC, almost 48% of Americans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and more than one-third have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus (CCA virus). In the U.S., people age 12 and older are eligible for the vaccine, as the FDA last week expanded eligibility for the Pfizer vaccine to adolescents.
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