COVID shots still work but researchers hunt new improvements
FILE - A health worker administers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination clinic in Reading, Pa. COVID-19 vaccinations are at a critical juncture as companies test whether new approaches like combination shots or nasal drops can keep up with a mutating coronavirus even though its not clear if any change is needed.
“I’m very concerned about booster fatigue” causing a loss of confidence in vaccines that still offer very strong protection against COVID-19’s worst outcomes, said Dr. Beth Bell of the University of Washington, an adviser to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Updating the vaccine recipe to match the latest variants is risky, because the next mutant could be completely unrelated. So companies are taking a cue from the flu vaccine, which offers protection against three or four different strains in one shot every year.Moderna and Pfizer are testing 2-in-1 COVID-19 protection that they hope to offer this fall. Each “bivalent” shot would mix the original, proven vaccine with an omicron-targeted version.the approach could work.
Even if someone who's vaccinated gets a mild infection, thanks to those memory cells “there's still plenty of time to protect you against severe illness,” said Dr. Paul Offit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “When I think about what would make me get a second booster, I actually would want to prevent infection,” said Dr. Grace Lee of Stanford University, who chairs CDC’s immunization advisory committee. “I think we need to do better.”