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The sharp rise in Covid-19 infection rates around the world has sparked a scientific and ethical debate over whether booster shots are needed to maintain protection against the virus.
This week, after an increase in cases related to the Delta variant, Israel became the first country to offer boosters, authorizing third-dose BioNTech / Pfizer jab to adults with severe pre-existing medical conditions. Other countries are considering whether to do so and when to follow suit.
But the science of whether boosters are needed to provide long-term immunity against the Delta variant is hitherto unfinished. And the World Health Organization has challenged the ethics of administering third-party traits, while billions of people in lower-income countries are still waiting for the former.
Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, said he hoped Covid’s booster shots would be needed in the coming years, as the virus continues to circulate, as does the flu, for which a annual vaccination.
“The task of vaccinating the world is not a single task,” he told the Financial Times, adding that vaccination “will be an endemic reality.”
But it is unclear if drivers are needed now. Studies conducted in May by Public Health England in the UK, where the Delta variant is dominant, found that two shots of the BioNTech / Pfizer shot were still 96% effective at preventing hospitalization. The research identified a drop in protection against symptomatic Delta infection, but only a slight one: 88% effective compared to 93% against the Alpha variant first identified in Kent.
Leading thorn manufacturers have said full vaccination is expected to provide immunity for a minimum of six to twelve months. This week, Johnson & Johnson said provisional results showed that its unique vaccine produced a strong immune response eight months after vaccination, including the Delta variant.
However, other studies have suggested that the immune response generated by several of the current vaccines could last longer. Researchers at the University of Washington found in June that both Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines produced “persistent“Immunity, with a stronger response in people who had previously been infected with coronavirus and then received a complete vaccination.
“It simply came to our notice then. . . the emergence of a new variant to which the immune response of a vaccine no longer covers it, “said Michael Saag, associate dean of global health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.” I don’t see it right now. ” , he said, adding that the number of vaccinated people suffering from severe Covid diseases had not increased significantly.
Leading pharmaceutical companies seem to be in favor of fast-paced boosters, with Pfizer and Moderna pushing the use of third-party firms more loudly.
Last week, Pfizer said it planned to apply for emergency use authorization in August from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to give people a third dose. The announcement provoked an immediate reaction from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control, which said in a joint statement that people who are fully vaccinated “do not need a booster shot at this time.” “[We are] prepared for booster doses if and when science proves they are needed, ”the agencies said.
The booster market presents a huge opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry, as analysts predict tens of billions of dollars in revenue just for Moderna and Pfizer.
In the UK, the government’s joint committee on vaccination and vaccination has recently published interim advice for the revaccination of millions of more vulnerable people, especially the elderly, who tend to have weaker immune responses. A final decision on whether to authorize the reinforcement campaign will depend on the results of ongoing studies on the duration of protection provided by vaccines, the UK has said.
Azra Ghani, president of infectious disease epidemiology at Imperial College London, said it was “pragmatic” for the UK to plan ahead given its abundant dose supply.
Two-thirds of the UK’s adult population has been fully vaccinated and the government is still waiting for doses of their original recruitment contracts with Novavax and Johnson & Johnson, in addition to the additional Pfizer vaccines ordered earlier this year. Similarly, the EU is preparing to administer reinforcements, as it has ordered to deliver 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer by the end of this year until 2023.
The EU has said it can give any surplus. However, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, has this week criticized rich countries for calling for additional traits, while large expanses of the developing world cannot even get the first doses.
“The global gap in the supply of Covid-19 vaccines is enormously uneven and inequitable,” Tedros said. “Some countries and regions are really asking for millions of booster doses before other countries have supplies to vaccinate their health workers and the most vulnerable.”
Nearly half of the U.S. is fully vaccinated, compared to less than 2% of Africa’s total population, according to the WHO.
“It’s really ethically troubling,” said Michael Carome, director of the public citizen advocacy group’s health research group. “The real approach should be to get the vaccine to the countries where they are behind, because ultimately that will protect everyone.”
Ghani, at Imperial College London, said the decision on whether to increase was ultimately an act of political balance.
For each country, “there really is no harm in giving a booster dose,” he said. However, globally, “these vaccines could probably save more lives if given as a first and second dose to people who have not received them. And, of course, this would have the advantage of reducing transmission and making more sure this country ”.
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