Fact Check | Everything we know about COVID-19 booster shots so far

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As we approach the second year of the pandemic, diverse Coronavirus mutations bring anxieties concerning waning immunity worldwide. Now, broadcasts that forewarn that COVID-19 vaccinations potentially weaken — facing new variants — are becoming widespread. This year, the Americas have maintained more Coronavirus infections and deaths than any other region globally.

Additive precautions to combat our national mortality rate have been ongoing. I.e., Supplementary immunization partners, social distancing, ventilation of indoor spaces, hand washing, and face masks. Further, speculation regarding who may use booster shots to help rebuild their immunity has brought forth some dissonances. As of August, vaccinated citizens with critically compromised immune systems became eligible for a third shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. These extra doses are not precisely the same as future booster shot combination possibilities.

Moreover, in several of our largest municipalities, people dying faster than in some international developing countries, confirms a recent Open Knowledge Repository study. Even so, American anti-vaxxer organizations are abundant. Per The Atlantic, “Videos of angry red-state demonstrators pushing back against school boards and other local authorities in public hearings, and repeating outlandish, baseless misinformation, have made the rounds in traditional media.” Our administrators’ inability to get on the same page deepens the divide among the collective viewing increased medical options.

There are 45 million confirmed cases in the United States alone, Worldometer reports, even with preventative COVID-19 shot applications. As nationwide fatalities continue to be an issue, many may feel this is not an ideal moment to throw caution and treatment to the wind. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “Data Supporting Need for a Booster Shot” section summarizes the following:

“Data from a small clinical trial show that a Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot increased the immune response in trial participants who finished their primary series 6 months earlier… Although COVID-19 vaccination for adults aged 65 years and older remains effective in preventing severe disease… [research] suggests vaccination is less effective at preventing infection… Emerging evidence also shows that among healthcare and other frontline workers, vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 infections is decreasing over time.”

Beside this notation, Politico has verified, “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is poised to dramatically expand the use of [Coronavirus] booster shots… after weeks of public debate over who needs the shots — and when.” No matter personal perspective, the pandemic has established that an individual’s stature has little to do with survival if their immunity becomes diminished by Coronavirus. Conflating science with public opinions potentially breeds confusion.

For example, prominent headlines touching the necessity of booster shots against infections may link Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets’ point guard endeavoring to “…be a voice for the voiceless,” and Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State, who died last week from COVID-19 complications. These figures, while prominent, do not brighten the process of the FDA’s advisory panel’s pitching booster shot proposals to the CDC’s top officials before separate State health departments review each.

Initially, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization to “… Pfizer for boosters in people 65 and older, those with underlying conditions,” CNN published. More specifically, the go-to CDC guidelines for the mentioned booster shots read accordingly:

“COVID-19 vaccine booster shots are available for the following Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine recipients who completed their initial series at least 6 months ago and are:

65 years and older

Age 18+ who live in long-term care settings

Age 18+ who have underlying medical conditions

Age 18+ who work in high-risk settings

Age 18+ who live in high-risk settings”

This booster shot development, though significant, has evolved and shoulders contributing factors worldwide. The global population is estimated to be around 7.7 billion, and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard confirms a total of 6.5 billion vaccine doses have been administered. Over a billion people are not safeguarded from rising Coronavirus variants. I.e., The Beta, Gamma, Delta, Lambda, or additional COVID-19 mutations. Comparatively, STAT registers how international governing powers seemingly have an elevated sense of urgency to attempt to flatten their populace’s Coronavirus curve.

The health and life sciences publication marked, “Booster shots for all adults six months after being vaccinated against COVID-19 are safe, effective, and badly needed. The United Kingdom and the European Union have authorized them for all adults. Israel won’t let anyone enter the country without one.” Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, the Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, uploaded graphics to dissect “… how fast cases drop once 3rd Pfizer #BoosterShots rolled out in [Israel]” via Twitter. Adjacent to this government is the damaging Coronavirus surge environing Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, upon lifting nearly all of England’s restrictions in July.

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1448714175732142081

Booster shots benefit recovery efforts. Despite people presumably wanting to achieve past sentiments of everyday normalcy, the fact remains we are still in the thick of a pandemic. At large, immunizations have consisted of two or more doses of the same vaccine. However, The New York Times detailed how the FDA “… seems likely to allow Americans to switch vaccines when choosing a COVID-19 booster shot. That authorization… could come this week.”

A comparable source is the earlier examinations of diverse Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) vaccinations, which have suggested that combining vaccines could produce more comprehensive therapies to resist and suppress the virus. Expanding on this medical model, readers can note a person who contracted HIV may reach an undetectable status — and remaining undetectable prevents transmitting HIV through sex. In short, coming into contact with a virus does not need to be a death sentence.

The aforementioned newspaper briefed further, saying:

“In recent years, some vaccine researchers have experimented with a switch from one vaccine to another for the second dose. This strategy is technically known as a heterologous prime-boost… Different types stimulate the immune system in different ways, and switching between two vaccines might give people the best of both worlds.”

Opposite of pre-booster shot double-dose immunizations are residents who previously received the single dose of Johnson & Johnson Inc’s (JNJ.N) COVID-19 vaccine. Reuters wrote that the specified option “… had a stronger immune response when boosted with vaccines from Pfizer Inc (PFE.N)/BioNTech SE or Moderna Inc (MRNA.O), a study run by the National Institutes of Health showed.” Ultimately, what is best among these varied selections will be contingent upon personal medical histories. Still, AP has advanced the above immunization probes entering “… recipients of the single-dose J&J vaccination had the most dramatic response — a 76-fold and 35-fold jump in antibody levels, respectively, shortly after either a Moderna or Pfizer booster, compared to a four-fold rise after a second J&J shot.”

Sources:

–https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/34028

–https://www.immunize.org/resources/part_us.asp

–https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/what-do-lefty-anti-vaxxers-do-now/620092/

–https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-08-25/governors-who-shun-vaccines-and-mask-mandates-push-experimental-antibody-therapy

–https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/21/anti-vaccine-coronavirus-137446

–https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/booster-shot.html

–https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

–https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/19/vaccine-booster-guide-516214

– https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/18/us/politics/fda-mix-and-match-boosters.html

–https://businessinsider.mx/colin-powells-death-covid-19-vaccines-work-2021-10/

–https://www.revolt.tv/2021/7/1/22559740/covid-19-delta-variant