Do You Need a Covid Booster?
If you’re fully vaccinated, there’s no indication you need a booster yet. But many could urgently use that dose — here’s why.
Last week, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer held a closed-door meeting with senior U.S. health officials to pitch them on Covid-19 booster shots.
Just a few days prior, Pfizer announced they would ask the FDA to expand the emergency authorization for their current two-dose vaccine to include a third, a booster shot.
We can only speculate on the confidential data presented in that meeting, but the Department of Health and Human Services who convened it issued a statement reflecting what many scientists believe: “At this time, fully vaccinated Americans do not need a booster shot”. The CDC and FDA also pushed back, issuing their own joint statement declaring “Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot at this time.”
Still, recent data from Israel suggesting declining efficacy of the Pfizer vaccines — with protection against symptomatic infection falling to 64%, down from 94% in the initial trials — have made some wonder if boosters will be needed in the near future.
Despite many acting like the pandemic is basically over, more than…
