Although the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in as many people as possible is essential for the country’s pandemic response, Dr. Anthony Fauci be equally important in ensuring that the second dose is administered in a timely manner.
His remarks, which were made during the coronavirus briefing in the White House on Monday, come because many people have questioned whether the second, or so-called booster shot, could be delayed because the country is having trouble supplying vaccines.
While both the modern and Pfizer mRNA vaccines, currently approved in the US, did result in a neutralizing antibody response that was above the threshold after one dose, Fauci said the second dose elicited a ten-fold response. .
“The main reason is not only the height of the reaction and the strength of the reaction, but if you get to the level of antibody, you get a bigger reaction,” he said. “By [the] breadth of response we mean, it covers not only the wild type and currently circulating virus, but also the variants we see circulating – especially the 1.1.7 and the 3.5.1, so it’s not just a matter of strength , it’s a matter of breadth of what you can cover. ‘
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He added that a ‘theoretical problem’ that can be created by opting for only one dose of the two-dose jab is that if you have a suboptimal response rather than eradicating the virus, you can ‘actually per accidentally opt for more mutants. ‘
Some have suggested studying whether the country could move to a single-dose approach. While “it’s not an unreasonable thing to suggest a study,” Fauci said, the “usefulness” of one creates additional barriers, he noted.
‘If you look at the number of people needed in a study to answer the question, again versus two, with the currently available vaccines, the time it took to get information about [the] Phase 3 and the number of people studying with the necessary response will take several months [to get] a meaningful answer, “he said.” At that point, the amount of vaccine that would be available would make it almost a difficult question. ‘
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Earlier in the information session, dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said nearly 700 cases of the British variant had been detected in 34 states. She said the country had seen a 20% decrease in new cases last week compared to the previous week, but that the importance of applying public health measures remains a highlight.
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“We must continue to dispel these issues,” she said.