[ad_1]
A press conference with agency representatives highlighted the effectiveness and likelihood of getting a third dose of the vaccine.
As the COVID-19 conversation evolves, booster injections have moved to the forefront of the conversation.
“There is very good data suggesting that, especially in the older part of the population, but spreading to younger individuals over time, the different vaccines no longer protect us against COVID-19 from the same way as before, ”Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA, said at a press conference.
The booster shots restore immunity to what it was before and what is used as a “booster” is a third dose in the series of primary doses, he said.
Many adult vaccines, with the possible inclusion of different versions of COVID-19 vaccines, tend to follow the same pattern of an initial dose, a second dose around 1 month and a third dose after 6 months, Marks said. . .
A third dose, or a booster dose, for COVID-19 vaccines, would not be unknown.
“The reason the pandemic happened is that there was no natural immunity. No one has been spared, and building this natural immunity sometimes takes a few doses to tickle your immune system, ”Marks said.
It takes the immune system several times to see a bacteria or virus before remembering the infection, he said.
As the COVID-19 variants mutate, it becomes even more important to consider a third injection to boost immunity to protect against the changing variants.
“The more it replicates, the more chance we have that there is an escape variant that will escape our current vaccines… the more that virus replicates, the more that chance exists,” Marks said. “The variants are going to be here with us until we get a better handle on that.”
The vaccine only reduces the spread by around 60-70%, and there is evidence that when a population is sufficiently vaccinated, the spread is reduced even further, he said.
A booster of Pfizer vaccine has been strongly recommended 6 months after the first dose for people 65 years of age and older, people aged 50 to 64 with underlying health conditions and residents of long-term care facilities duration.
“There is also emerging evidence showing among healthcare workers and other frontline workers that the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 infections declines over time,” Melinda Wharton, MD, associate director of the vaccine policy for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease at the CDC, said at the press conference. “This lower efficacy is probably due to the combination of waning protection over time since vaccination, i.e. waning immunity, as well as the greater infectivity of the Delta variant.”
Eligibility for a booster shot extends to other groups based on the individual’s benefits and risks, which includes those aged 18 to 49 with underlying health conditions and those living in high risk institutional and professional environments.
Marks noted that the side effects (AEs) from a third dose were similar to the range of effects from the second dose.
He also mentioned that the most common AEs, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes, might be felt the most for a few days after vaccination.
Those at the press conference made no comment on the booster shots for those under 18.
On October 14 and 15, 2021, the FDA will hold an advisory committee meeting on the inclusion of a recall for the Janssen and Moderna vaccines.
The goal is to have a “harmonized approach to recalls for the 3 different vaccines,” Marks said.
[ad_2]
Source link