Covid-19 Boosters Aren’t Necessary Yet, Group of Scientists Say
Wall Street Journal article, 9-13-21
Read the WSJ article: https://archive.is/nXLQb
Covid-19 Boosters Aren’t Necessary Yet, Group of Scientists Say.
After data review, scientists say vaccines should go first to people who haven’t gotten them.
An international group of scientists said Monday that there isn’t enough evidence yet to support giving Covid-19 booster shots to the general public.
In a review article published Monday in the Lancet, a group of scientists concluded that current vaccine regimens were still very effective at protecting against severe disease from viral variants, including Delta. They said there doesn’t seem to be a need for boosters to bolster the immunity of the general population yet.
The scientists, including some at the World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, looked at data from randomized control trials and observational studies published in peer-reviewed journals and preprint servers.
When the scientists averaged the results from observational studies, they said they found that vaccination had 95% effectiveness against severe disease from both the Delta and Alpha variants, and more than 80% effectiveness in protecting against infection from these variants. They noted that waning antibody levels don’t necessarily correlate with a decrease in effectiveness against severe disease. That is because protection against severe disease also comes from other parts of the immune system, they said, such as memory B cells and T-cells.
Boosters may eventually be needed, but there could be risks if boosters were widely introduced too soon or too frequently, the authors of the review said.
“If unnecessary boosting causes significant adverse reactions, there could be implications for vaccine acceptance that go beyond Covid-19 vaccines. Thus, widespread boosting should be undertaken only if there is clear evidence that it is appropriate,” they wrote.
The U.S. has authorized booster shots for certain immunocompromised patients, and the Biden administration is considering plans to broaden distribution to the general public within the month.
Instead of boosters, health authorities should focus on people around the globe who aren’t yet vaccinated, the authors of the Lancet review said. Current vaccine supplies could save more lives if used in unvaccinated populations than if used as boosters in vaccinated populations, they said.
“Even if some gain can ultimately be obtained from boosting, it will not outweigh the benefits of providing initial protection to the unvaccinated,” said Ana-Maria Henao-Restrepo, the study’s lead author and researcher at the WHO. She said vaccines would help inhibit the evolution of further variants and bring the pandemic to an end if they are deployed where fewer people have had access to them so far.
