As the pandemic continues, experts are exploring ways to continue to stretch limited vaccine supplies to protect as many people as possible. One idea that comes up again this week involves allowing more time between the first and second doses of the two-dose vaccines. This time, however, there is some extra data that suggests it may work.
This is the idea: two leading vaccines, manufactured by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, require two doses. However, their early data showed fairly significant protection after the first dose. It made people think – is it worth giving more people with just one dose of partial protection? Or should they stick to the schedule and vaccinate fewer people completely?
Some experts encouraged researchers in December to set up trials to determine if a single dose of two-dose vaccine would be effective. Around the same time, health authorities in the UK decided to continue plowing without those studies, giving them preference to get first shots in the arms so people could delay their doses.
This week we got more data showing that a single dose of Pfizer / BioNTech actually works very well to prevent disease. A study in Israel found that a first shot was 85 percent effective in reducing symptomatic cases of COVID-19 in health workers.
There are some reservations. Here’s an important one: most people in the study end up getting their second dose relatively quickly. This means that researchers can only say that the first dose is effective between 15 and 28 days after someone gets the first chance. How long protection goes beyond that is still unknown.
This is why some experts are still considering changing the schedule between vaccines. “Until there are good clinical trials that show that a single dose provides an equal level of protection, I do not know that we should abandon our approach or draw up new policies,” said Jonathan Tempte. NBC.
It’s messy, and researchers disagree. Some, including Anthony Fauci, claim that keeping two doses on schedule could help keep the U.S. from dangerous variants of the virus. Others are leaning towards following a strategy more like the UK.
‘I think so [strategy] is something that reasonable people can not agree on, but to say that you should only do something that is supported by random evidence if there is an emergency, we would have refrained from using masks, doing social distance, to do everything to do what we know to be good public health practices, ”Marc said. Lipsitch, an epidemiologist told Harvard CIDRAP News earlier this month. He added: “There is an old saying that we would not use parachutes or aspirin if we were waiting for randomized trials.”
Here in the US, states are trying to speed up the doses – and they are asking the federal government for guidance. The CDC has already said that in extreme circumstances, providers can stretch the window between their patients’ shots from three to four weeks to six. This week, Bloomberg reports that a committee advising the CDC is considering recommending the schedule in a smaller working group.
That discussion may not reach the full committee any time soon. The working group may decide that they need to see more data, or that it will not come to the next COVID-19 meeting in favor of discussing more pressing issues – including their recommendations for the single-shot vaccine Johnson and Johnson. (Another committee meeting is scheduled for next week, but the focus is on a number of other deadly diseases, including Ebola, dengue and rabies.)
Even if the committee not take it up immediately, the question of when doses should be administered is fascinating and the question we will see if the explosion of the vaccine accelerates, and more data continues to flow in.
Here’s what’s happening this week.
Research
Up to 90 volunteers in the UK to take part in the groundbreaking trial with COVID-19 infections
A trial in the UK will deliberately expose volunteers to the virus that causes COVID-19. To begin with, it will try to determine how little virus is needed to cause an infection. The trial was announced last year, but it had to follow ethical and regulatory steps to proceed. (Nicola Davis / The guardian)
Who died of COVID-19 in the USA?
It is a gripping, visual dive into the data of deaths in the US and looks at the demographics of people who have died from this disease. (Youyou Zhou and Julia Belluz / Vox)
Development
The myth of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ COVID vaccines
With the introduction of multiple vaccines, there are inevitable comparisons between them. But these comparisons can be detrimental if you communicate about vaccines – and get people to take them. (Helen Branswell / STAT)
COVID-19 vaccines start working in the US
Cases in the US are declining. Although the broader decline cannot yet be attributed to the vaccine, there are some places where researchers see vaccinations working. (Nicole Wetsman /The edge)
Why grandparents can not find vaccines: scarce bio-technical ingredients in niche
Until recently, the ingredients found in the mRNA-based vaccines manufactured by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna were only produced in small quantities. But as production accelerates, producers must increase quickly. (Christopher Rowland / The Washington Post)
Unprotected health workers in Africa die when rich countries buy COVID-19 vaccines
Some countries and regions are struggling to obtain the vaccines, causing serious health crises. Richer countries like the US have a clear advantage in the vaccine race and keep going – with tragic results elsewhere. (Kai Kupferschmidt / Science)
Perspectives:
… West and Zoe’s enthusiasm only waned as she described the multiple nosebleeds and blood draws they agreed to (up to four of each during six visits). But educated by the ability to see their friends safely, and in my son’s case to upgrade his AirPods, they roll up their sleeves.
Journalist Sheila Mulrooney Eldred writes about the experience of her teenagers taking part in Moderna’s vaccination test for The New York Times.
That sounds crazy, does it? Am I crazy? I definitely have that psychological battle where I start to doubt everything. Could it all be in my head? I will tell myself that I should try harder. I will force myself out of bed, but then I go into the shower and the hot water makes my hands purple. My heart rate is rising. I get so dizzy that I have to sit down.
– Kaitlin Dennis, who has been dealing with COVID-19 symptoms since March 2020, as told to Eli Saslow The Washington Post.
As my dad’s health deteriorated, I reflected on how MAL the world is now; behind all the well-intentioned gestures to honor workers like him in the front line, there is the willingness to risk their lives to make trade flow. A willingness to be ruined and to be destroyed for a sense of normalcy.
– Lovely Umayam writes about safety and her father’s fight with COVID-19 for The New York Times.
More than numbers
For more than 110,655,192 people worldwide who have tested positive, your recovery path can be smooth.
To the families and friends of the 2,450,423 people who died worldwide – 495,469 of those in the US – your loved ones will not be forgotten.
Stay safe everyone.