- Dr Anthony Fauci warned on Monday to delay the second COVID-19 shots.
- He said it could be a recipe for spreading new varieties by giving people weaker immunity.
- While one shot provides ‘certain’ protection, the data suggests that two shots are ‘ten times’ better, Fauci said.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci said people in the U.S. getting their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on time could be critical in limiting the emergence of new, rapidly spreading virus variants.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said while it is true that a single shot can give people some protection, it does not look nearly as strong as the powerful disease shield that two shots offer .
Therefore, he does not recommend giving more Americans first doses of vaccines and waiting until later in the year to give people their second “booster” shot, a strategy currently being tested in the UK.
While the plan may be successful in partially protecting more people more quickly, it is just too risky and is not backed up by any data we have so far.
“The way viruses respond to pressure allows you to accidentally opt for more mutants,” Fauci said during a Coronavirus briefing in the White House on Monday. “For this reason, we have continued with the fact that we believe that the optimal approach would be to continue to get as many people as possible on their first dose, but also to make sure that people get their second dose on time. “
Two shots provide stronger protection against all forms of the virus, including variants
Fauci had both his shots.
Patrick Semansky-Pool / Getty Images
Vaccination trials on tens of thousands of volunteers around the world have shown how well-authorized Pfizer and Moderna vaccines work as a two-shot course when administered 21 days apart (for Pfizer) or 28 days apart (for Moderna).
In this way, the vaccines appear to be more than 90% effective in terminating the symptomatic coronavirus infections. (AstraZeneca’s two-vaccine, which has been approved for use in the UK but not yet in the US, appears to be less effective than both Pfizer and Moderna.)
Two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, if administered according to schedule, can provide the immune protection of one shot ‘tenfold’, Fauci said.
“The reason why this is important is not only because of the height of the reaction and the strength of the reaction, but as you get to the level of antibody, you get a bigger reaction,” Fauci added.
That ‘breadth’ of virus response may be critical to help combat the pandemic, especially now.
“By the breadth of the response, we mean that it not only covers the wild type and currently circulating virus, but also the variants we see circulating, especially the 1.1.7 and the 3.5.1,” Fauci added, referring to the variants first introduced in the United Kingdom and South Africa respectively.
In other words, because vaccines do not work quite as well against the new variants, it is important to make sure that the coverage we get from them is as greasy as possible, and the way to do that is through two full shots for humans to give.
It looks more and more likely that the B.1.1.7 variant will become the dominant strain of the virus transmitted in the US in March, Fauci said – a timeline consistent with the recent predictions of other experts.
It is still unclear whether we can ‘get away with a single dose’
A nurse is preparing a coronavirus vaccine developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc.
Hans Pennink / AP
Fauci said it was still “not unreasonable” to wonder if people could get away with Pfizer or Moderna vaccines “at least for a while” with a single dose.
But he stressed that there were no final studies on the effectiveness of the one-shot strategy. By the time careful testing of the demand was completed, there would in any case be a better supply of vaccines to roam around the US, which would make it a bit of a “point of study”, he said. .
The strategy can also be dangerous.
One shot of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine will provide a lower degree of infection control power than two full doses would do. As a result, Fauci said humans can only give one dose to treat their vaccines in threats to the virus, making it possible to learn how to mutate faster and better and infect more vaccines.
The important thing, Fauci said, is to “get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible” with two shots.
“This is the best defense against the evolution of variants,” he said.