Experts: More data required on need for second booster shots
Now that it’s been nearly five months after boosters were initially approved, federal regulators are recommending a second round of shots only for the most severely immunocompromised individuals.
Newsday’s Robert Brodsky reports that medical experts on Long Island say more data is needed before determining whether a second booster shot is needed for healthy Americans.
In September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended boosters at least six months after people had their final dose of the original vaccine series, to maintain strong protection against the virus. (The CDC later lowered the waiting time to five months after Pfizer or Moderna, and two months after the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.)
A CDC report released on Friday said the effectiveness of the boosters began to wane four months after the shot.
“The jury is still out on this question,” said Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of public health and epidemiology for Northwell Health. “The limited data we have from Israel [on a second booster] demonstrates that these people make better antibodies for a period of time … But it’s not clear how long those antibodies will last and how much more effective it is than people who did not get the [second] booster.”
Plus, the latest on vaccinations for children under 5: U.S. regulators on Friday abruptly put the brakes on their efforts to speed review of the shots Pfizer is testing, citing the need to wait for data on how well a third shot works for the age group.
The number of new positives reported today: 160 in Nassau, 175 in Suffolk, 700 in New York City and 2,348 statewide.
Search a map of new cases, and view more charts showing the latest local trends in testing, hospitalizations, deaths and more.
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Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.
