April 15 (Reuters) – The United States prepares for the
possibility that a booster shot is needed between nine to
12 months after initial vaccination
COVID-19, a White House official said Thursday.
While the duration of immunity after vaccination
studied, boost vaccines may be needed, David Kessler, principal
Scientific Officer for President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Response Task
may be said at a congressional meeting.
‘The current thinking is those who are more vulnerable
must go first, ”he said.
Meanwhile, Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer Inc.
said people would probably need a third dose of COVID-19
vaccines within 12 months and may require annual shots, CNBC
reported based on his April 1 comment, delivered
public on Thursday. (https://cnb.cx/2Q4MXS1)
Initial data showed that vaccines from Moderna Inc.
a partner Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE
retains most of their effectiveness for at least six
months, although for how long longer has not been fixed.
Even if the protection lasts much longer than six months,
experts said that rapidly spreading variants of the
coronavirus and others that may occur may lead to the need
for regular booster shots similar to annual flu shots.
The United States also monitors infections in people who
fully vaccinated, Rochelle Walensky, director of the
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at home
hearing of the subcommittee.
There are 77 million people vaccinated in the United States
Walensky had 5800 such breakthrough infections,
including 396 people in need of hospitalization and 74 who
deceased.
Walensky said some of these infections have occurred
the vaccinated person did not have a strong immune response.
But the concern is that in some cases it does occur
people infected by more contagious virus variants.
Earlier this month, Pfizer and partner BioNTech
said their vaccine was approximately 91% effective in preventing
COVID-19, with reference to updated trial data that includes more than
12,000 people were completely vaccinated for at least six months.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru and Julie Steenhuysen
in Chicago, additional reporting by Mrinalika Roy; Editing by
Bill Berkrot and Arun Koyyur)