COVID-19 vaccine: Will vaccinated elderly people need a shot in the fall? Doctor weighs in

As more Americans receive their COVID-19 vaccine daily, many people are wondering how long it will be effective and whether some people need a boost at some point.

Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief for infectious diseases for Kaiser Permanente, joined Eyewitness News to discuss the vaccine and answered a question from one viewer who wanted to know if elderly people vaccinated in February needed a shot in the fall.

Dr. Hudson said that although we only have six months of data on the vaccines, because that’s how long we’ve been using them, it’s hard to say.

“But every day we learn more and more about it and it really looks like the response and protection against these COVID vaccines is going to be lasting,” she said. “I think at a minimum, a year and probably longer, but with all that HAS BEEN, time will tell.”

New research published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week suggests that protection against the Moderna vaccine lasts at least six months. The report reflects what Pfizer said a week earlier about the vaccine working in a similar way.

Both reports are based on follow-up tests in dozens of people who received the shots during studies that led to the use of the vaccines. These studies were done before new variants, or versions of the coronavirus, emerged and began to spread.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.