The Omicron variant of coronavirus has created an unprecedented situation, leading to surge in Covid-19 infection and increasing the vaccination doses. Many countries across the world are asking people to take a third – or the booster shot – to tackle the heavily mutated Omicron.
Israel goes one step further and is providing its population with a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine. India has also launched a program to vaccinate eligible populations with preventive doses.
But is this the way forward? Do we have to get a booster shot every few months? Healthcare experts and researchers are puzzled by the constantly mutating coronavirus and have been advocating for increased vaccine coverage. But in many interviews, these experts stated that trying to increase the entire population every few months is unrealistic.
Akiko Iwasaki, a professor of immunobiology at Yale University and one of the most authoritative voices for Covid-19, told the New York Times, “There is a better way than a booster immunization every six months.”
“It doesn’t seem like a sustainable long-term strategy, of course,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, another immunologist at the University of Arizona.
Given its frequent mutations, booster shots are advocated to improve immunity to the coronavirus. But there is no data to support the effectiveness of this dose.
The boost to immunity is temporary, and some studies in the United States have shown that antibody levels drop just a few weeks after the third dose.
“Even with that many antibodies, it’s hard to stop the virus for long. The bar is much higher now than it used to be, and maybe an Omicron-specific vaccine will do better,” California virologist Shane Crotty told The New York Times.
Late last year, Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said people may need a fourth Covid-19 shot sooner than expected because of the Omicron variant. The announcement comes days after Pfizer and BioNTech released the results of a study showing that a third of the vaccine was effective against Omicron, but the two-dose regimen saw a significant drop in its ability to protect against severely mutated viruses.
But in the United States, the worst-affected country, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it was too early to discuss a possible fourth dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye kung reiterated the same idea on Facebook on Friday. “If you recover well from the infection without complications, your immune system will experience intense stimulation. Think of it as a fairly powerful vaccination,” he said.
Ong said that for those who are infected and then vaccinated, or who are infected between vaccinations, there is no rush to boost immunity.
Complete News source : Hindustan Times
