The New Normal

[MarzNC]

I read Moderna is saying that you're going to need a booster 8-9 months after the 1st shot.

Pfizer, Moderna: 1st COVID-19 vaccine recipients could need booster by September

The CEOs of both Moderna and Pfizer said the first recipients of their companies’ COVID-19 vaccines could require a booster dose as soon as September, dependent upon authorization by the CDC and the FDA.

www.fox4news.com

" . . .on May 19, both the CEO of Moderna and the CEO of Pfizer said that depending on the research being done on the efficacy and longevity of the vaccines, a booster shot could be needed between either eight to 12 months after the recipient’s initial two-dose vaccine series.

But the decision is mostly dependent upon health officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration to approve booster shots, Pfizer told FOX TV Stations in an emailed statement.
. . ."

The way I read the article, all the vaccine makers are preparing people for the idea of booster shots. The increased number of variants spreading around the world is something they have been assessing for a while. Of course, what they want from a business standpoint is full FDA approval in 2021 based on the clinical trial data for the studies begun in 2020. At least, that's what the bean counters would like.

In general, the timing for vaccinations depends on the disease and how a human body reacts to the vaccine. We get flu shots every year because of the big number of flu variations of concern. For shots given to children for contagious diseases like measles or mumps, the schedule is completely different. With the more recent shingles vaccine, it's two shots for older adults and no need for a booster after that.

 

[MarzNC]

A bit more info related to the idea of the timing of booster shots for Pfizer and Moderna. For what it's worth, my ski buddy who is an immunologist thinks a year is probably the most likely timeframe for vaccine immunity to be at a good level.

Covid-19 vaccine boosters may be necessary at some point. Here's what you need to know | CNN

Vaccine makers are preparing for a next possible phase of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout: booster doses.

www.cnn.com

" . . .
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN the bottom line is "we don't know."
"We're preparing for the eventuality that we might need boosters, but I think we've got to be careful not to let the people know that inevitably, x number of months from now, everyone's going to need a booster. That's just not the case," Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said at a Washington Post Live event. "We may not need it for quite a while."

Scientists at a number of companies that make Covid-19 vaccines have also predicted the need for boosters within a year -- but the scientific community is not in widespread agreement on this.

"We're making extrapolations" from incomplete data, Fauci told The Washington Post on Thursday.
. . ."

Moderna and Pfizer are already developing COVID-19 vaccine boosters. Do we need a third shot?

It looks like Americans may need to roll up their sleeves for a COVID-19 booster shot, though vaccine makers and federal officials are still trying to detect...

www.marketwatch.com

" . . .
Moderna and Pfizer have recently said immunity can start to wane between six to eight months after getting the second shot of their vaccines. Dr. Peter Marks, a Food and Drug Administration official, estimates that vaccine-induced immunity is around one year, according to public remarks reported by CNBC.

“I would project that it’s actually going to be longer than that,” Dr. Mark Mulligan, director of NYU Langone Health’s Vaccine Center, said in a May 3 interview. “It might be a year or even more. But in all likelihood, for boosting of the magnitude of the antibody levels and other immune responses, boosters will be needed.”

If SARS-CoV-2 becomes an endemic virus, as some medical experts have predicted, boosters are one way to keep people protected and also address gaps in immunity caused by powerful variants like B.1.351, first detected in South Africa, and the P.1 first identified in Brazil that are thought to lessen the effectiveness of these vaccines.

However, at this point, it’s all speculation. There is no medical consensus about whether booster shots are necessary to ensure continued protection against this virus or even what the durability of immunity to this virus is.
. . ."

 

[tirolski]

Long lived bone marrow plasma cells producing antibodies found in folks recovered from "mild infection".

SARS-CoV-2 infection induces long-lived bone marrow plasma cells in humans - Nature

SARS-CoV-2 infection induces long-lived bone marrow plasma cells that correlate with anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein antibody titres in individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.

www.nature.com

 

[Brownski]

There’s something positive for a change.
Thanks

 

[marcski]

I just hope that the boosters are better at protecting from the variants as the flue shots are. It seems like the flu shots are a crap shoot whether they will be productive or not.

 

[jasonwx]

I just hope that the boosters are better at protecting from the variants as the flue shots are. It seems like the flu shots are a crap shoot whether they will be productive or not.

The boosters are only for the known variants
Not much they can do with the unknown

 

[MarzNC]

I just hope that the boosters are better at protecting from the variants as the flue shots are. It seems like the flu shots are a crap shoot whether they will be productive or not.

Flu shots are completely different than the vaccines geared specifically for SARS-CoV-2 from what I understand. A combination shot is created based on a deliberate selection of a few common flu strains. It's known from the start that the list is an educated guess, not a guarantee that those will be the dominant strains in the upcoming flu season.

I don't have a medical background. But have done enough reading to appreciate that how a coronavirus acts in a human body has little in common with influenza other than a few similar symptoms for people with a mild case of COVID-19. Meaning people who actually notice mild symptoms, not people who are asymptomatic.

Influenza Vaccine for the 2020-2021 Season

FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) met in Silver Spring, Maryland, on March 4, 2020, to select the influenza viruses for the composition of the influenza vaccine for the 2020-2021 U.S. influenza season.

www.fda.gov

 

[MarzNC]

The boosters are only for the known variants
Not much they can do with the unknown

Based on my reading, I don't think that's correct. T-cell/B-cell protection can handle variants. A coronavirus can only mutate so much.

As for developing a booster shot based on an existing vaccine, the research and clinical trials can only be done for existing variants.

 

[tirolski]

A coronavirus can only mutate so much.

Ya might have forgot there’s folks who know how to engineer changes to RNA and DNA besides what changes naturally .

 

[Campgottagopee]

Same. I get headaches every. single. day. since I had covid. I never had gotten them before. I pound Tylenol like they're M&M's

No headaches, as in zero, for over a month now.
I'll take the booster as soon as it's available.