{"id":39464,"date":"2021-05-04T15:05:01","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T21:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=39464"},"modified":"2022-08-09T11:03:19","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T17:03:19","slug":"covid-19-booster-shots-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/covid-19-booster-shots-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 booster shots: What you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"UCHealth
Clinical trials have shown the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines that account for more than 95 percent of U.S. vaccinations to be highly effective for at least five to six months. How long they\u2019ll last before protection wanes \u2013 if it wanes \u2013 and we need COVID-19 booster shots remains an unknown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although less than half the U.S. population has been fully immunized against COVID-19, medical experts and vaccine specialists are studying and preparing for the need for COVID-19 booster shots. Here\u2019s a rundown of some of the big questions and answers \u2013 many of them tentative, as it\u2019s still early days \u2013 having to do with coronavirus booster shots.<\/p>\n

How long do coronavirus vaccines stay effective?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Both the Moderna<\/a> and the Pfizer vaccines, which have accounted for more than 95% of U.S. vaccinations so far, remain highly effective for at least five to six months after the second shot. That\u2019s based on the companies\u2019 April announcements based on vaccinations among clinical-trial participants who received their first shots in summer 2020. As of early May 2021, Johnson & Johnson, maker of the third COVID-19 vaccine that has been granted U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency authorization in the United States, had not disclosed data on longer-term effectiveness.<\/p>\n

Will these vaccines\u2019 effectiveness wane over time?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

No one knows yet, says Dr. Thomas Campbell<\/a>, a\u00a0University of Colorado School of Medicine\u00a0and UCHealth virologist and infectious-disease specialist. Campbell, who leads the Colorado portion of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial (217 people were enrolled locally of more than 30,000 nationally), says there\u2019s no evidence so far that immunity conveyed by the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is waning. But time will tell. Some vaccines, such as those for measles, last a lifetime. Others, such as flu vaccines, require annual updates \u2013 though in the case of flu vaccines, these \u201cboosters\u201d are designed to target new mutations of a fast-evolving virus.<\/p>\n

Would COVID-19 booster shots be needed because the immune response from initial vaccination weakens over time \u2013 or, as in the case of flu vaccines, because the SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates in ways that render the vaccines less effective \u2013 or entirely ineffective?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Either\/or \u2013 or both. The weakening of initial vaccine-based immunity over time, the potential of viral variants to render coronavirus vaccines less effective, or a combination of the two could trigger the need for COVID-19 booster shots, Campbell says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a good chance that boosters will be needed,\u201d he says, \u201cbut we don\u2019t know how often they\u2019ll be needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Thomas Campbell, who leads the Colorado portion of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial, says COVID-19 booster shots are probably in our future, but that, as with so much relating to the coronavirus, much uncertainty remains.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The need for boosters and their frequency, he says, will depend on the ultimate longevity of the initial doses \u2013 still an open question \u2013 and whether viral variants<\/a> emerge that can dodge today\u2019s vaccines.<\/p>\n

How effective are today\u2019s vaccines against the current crop of coronavirus variants?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In laboratory studies, the Moderna<\/a> and Pfizer vaccines are both highly effective in combatting the B.1.1.7 (British) variant of the virus. Other<\/a> lab research has shown somewhat diminished effectiveness against the B.1.351 (South African) and P.1 (Brazilian) variants. It\u2019s important to note, though, that the observation of antibody reactions in petri dishes doesn\u2019t always translate into real-world immune responses. The Pfizer vaccine \u2013 whose protein-encoding mRNA is identical to Moderna\u2019s \u2013 was effective in clinical trials in South Africa where B.1.351 was the dominant strain.<\/p>\n

B.1.1.7 is now the dominant SARS-CoV-2 strain in the United States. Campbell says about 80% of new coronavirus cases nationally and roughly 70% of new Colorado cases involve coronavirus variants. The far greater transmissibility of certain variants of concern \u2013 the B.1.1.7 variant, for example, is believed to spread about 60% more easily and cause about 60% worse disease \u2013 has led to their growing dominance over previous versions of the virus.<\/p>\n

Given the improbability<\/a> of reaching herd immunity, the virus will continue to have opportunities to mutate, and there\u2019s no guarantee that variants capable of dodging the current crop of vaccines won\u2019t emerge. Indeed, as increasing numbers of people are fully vaccinated, a viral variant capable of evading vaccine protection, should one emerge, would find fertile ground among the vaccinated majority.<\/p>\n

How are vaccine producers responding to the threat of variants and the possibility of diminishing vaccine-driven immunity over time?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Moderna officials say they\u2019ll have COVID-19 booster shots ready by this fall. Pfizer officials also expect booster shots to be needed<\/a> \u2013 and that such shots could boost antibody response (the body\u2019s initial reaction to invading coronaviruses) by a factor of 10 or even 20. Both Pfizer and Moderna are already giving COVID-19 booster shots to a subset of their clinical-trial participants, and Pfizer<\/a>, Moderna<\/a>, and Johnson & Johnson<\/a> are working on boosters tailored to the P.1.351 and other coronavirus variants.<\/p>\n

These sorts of preparations make sense, Campbell says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSARS-CoV-2 is not going to go away,\u201d he says. \u201cIn my opinion, it\u2019s not going to be like measles, where we don\u2019t have cases anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

If COVID-19 booster shots are needed, can those initially vaccinated with Moderna get a Pfizer booster or vice-versa?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Probably, Campbell says. \u201cTheir delivery systems are a little bit different, but the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines create identical antigens,\u201d he says, so the COVID-19 booster shots should be interchangeable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although less than half the U.S. population has been fully immunized against COVID-19, medical experts and vaccine specialists are studying and preparing for the need for COVID-19 booster shots. Here\u2019s a rundown of some of the big questions and answers \u2013 many of them tentative, as it\u2019s still early days \u2013 having to do with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":39476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4859,4860,9069],"class_list":["post-39464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-covid-19-vaccine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCOVID-19 booster shots: What you need to know - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"medical experts and vaccine specialists are studying and preparing for the need for COVID-19 booster shots. 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