Experts polled unanimously say people should not wait for new versions of existing vaccines
Don’t wait to get a booster shot.
That’s overwhelming advice from 15 vaccine experts, infectious disease doctors and public health officials polled by Bloomberg after the emergence of a new omicron variant sent vaccine makers off the hook. Please urgently improve the shot in case a new version is required.
The highly mutated strain raises new questions about how well an existing Covid-19 vaccine will work. However, experts have cited a host of reasons why you should get an extra dose now, including the lack of complete data on omicrons, the growing body of evidence about the booster’s benefits, and the potential benefits of boosters. month in which reformatting injections are likely to be available.
“Intensifiers are even more urgent, not only to enhance immunity as much as possible for individual protection, but also to protect individuals,” said Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic Vaccine Research Group. both population-level immunity to omicron spread and the further emergence of new variants. “
Vaccine manufacturers are evaluating the effectiveness of their omicron shots and developing new, tailored vaccination preparations. In the US, where the first cases were identified just this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said all adults should get a booster shot or six months after receiving Pfizer Inc’s two-dose regimen. .-BioNTech SE or Moderna Inc. months after Johnson & Johnson’s stab.
Most of the experts surveyed were in line with the CDC’s recommendation, which says all adults should get a booster shot.
And while the extra doses may not fully protect against omicrons, they “are our best chance, along with other public health measures, to keep people out of the hospital”. Lois Privor-Dumm, director of adult vaccines at International Vaccine Access, said the Center, an advocacy group. “We don’t yet know enough about the omicron to know how well a vaccine works, but some protection is better than no protection at all.”
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Only Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine and infectious disease physician at the University of California at San Francisco, disagrees: Although people 65 and older and those with medical conditions will benefit, “we do.” “I don’t have enough data on omicrons to recommend boosters to everyone,” she said, “nor do we know if healthy young people would benefit (or if there’s some kind of effect). extra). “
Paul Offit, director of the vaccine education center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who was not part of the survey, also expressed reservations about the widespread use of boosters beyond high-risk populations. He noted that myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation that is usually mild and clears up quickly, is a rare risk for young people getting vaccinated.
“There has to be a clear benefit for you to say the benefits outweigh the risks,” said Offit, a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory committee.
Stabbed
Experts polled unanimously said that people should not wait for new versions of existing vaccines. Boosters will protect recipients from the highly infectious delta variant that currently prevails, they said, and could help with the omicron variant.
“Vaccines and boosters elevate antibodies and T-cell responses to fight viral infections.” Akiko Iwasaki, professor of immunobiology at Yale Medical School. “Even if antibodies bind only weakly to the omicron variant (due to the large number of mutations), having sufficient amounts of such antibodies will still reduce infection, replication and spread,” with the role of complement of T cells, she said.
Emily Landon, chief of epidemiology at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, said that even if a new drug is needed and available, “a push right now shouldn’t preclude a push with the new version.” after that”.
And for those who are still unvaccinated, getting vaccinated is even more important, respondents said.
“This is the most important measure and more important than the booster dose,” said Wilbur Chen, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Most experts surveyed said it was too early to judge whether people would need an omicron-specific injection. Some of them do not anticipate needing a separate formula.
But if that’s the case, there’s a good chance there will be studies testing whether they can be mixed and matched with earlier vaccines, experts say. They say that work could come from academia, federal health agencies or the companies themselves.
In the meantime, there are steps that even people who have been vaccinated and boosted can take to protect themselves from omicrons. The most common recommendation, one that’s familiar by now, is to wear a mask – especially the high-quality, well-fitting one.
