Epidemiologists explain the rationale behind the Biden Administration’s plan to rollout booster shots for mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines.
Experts in This Article
Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS is an infectious disease epidemiologist and microbiologist.
She is the science communication lead at The COVID Tracking Project.
Booster shots, however, are being considered because we know that vaccine efficacy diminishes over time.
Officials have been waiting on data to suggest when protection diminishes enough to warrant a third shot.
We now have that data.
Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS is an infectious disease epidemiologist and microbiologist. She is the science communication lead at The COVID Tracking Project.
He notes, however, that mRNA vaccines remained 91.9 to 95.3 percent effective in preventing hospitalization.
The shot remained 90 percent effective in preventing severe illness throughout the entire timeline, however.
Its Amazing How Its All Connected.
Both epidemiologists point out that you remain well-protected after two shots, especially against hospitalization and death.
There is somedatato show that adding an additional dose can increase the immune response significantly, she says.
And booster doses are not unique to COVID-19 vaccines, says Rivera.
This is not an expression of failure, she says.
Still, Rivera says that this isnt an either/or proposition.
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