For the past year I have been explaining the vaccines and their efficacy. In addition I have tried to detail the need for ongoing improvements, akin to say the Flu shots. The good NIH fellow espoused today:
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci made the rounds of the morning TV news shows on Sunday, trying to quell confusion over the latest federal pandemic guidance for the start of school in the fall as well as growing questions about the necessity of booster shots. On Sunday, Israel’s health ministry announced that it would begin offering boosters to adults with weakened immune systems who already had two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, in light of the rising number of cases there caused by the Delta variant. The news was first reported by Reuters. Asked about the development on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Dr. Fauci emphasized that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was committed to following the science and said that boosters were not recommended “right now,” given that more than 90 percent of Covid-related new hospitalizations were in unvaccinated patients. But he did not rule out the possibility that boosters might eventually be advisable for certain populations.
First there is a difference between a "booster" and let us call it an "update" The booster is needed if the immune response decays over time. The update is needed if variants are generated that do not respond to the old vaccine. So frankly what are we looking at?
The answer is simple, it is science and not TV palaver. At this point we should have detailed peer reviewed scientific data on both. First is the Antibody response a long term one and if not how long is it lasting? Second with the multiplicity of variants is the existing immunity adequate to fight them off.
Regrettably neither the CDC nor NIH has publicly done anything. If we face another burst it will be on their shoulders. In my opinion and in my experience we know what has to be done, it is called Public Health science. Measure, analyze, review and report, continuously. You can't even get the CDC to report on weekends or holidays! Government Workers! Pity....
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