Nearly two months after the vaccination attempt with the Covid-19, U.S. public health authorities have another challenge: to make sure people who got their first shot return to their second one.
Initial data shows that most people come back for their second shots. Data from the Texas Department of State Health Services showed that only 0.3 percent of the 1.9 million people vaccinated so far were late for their second shot – although another 7.5 percent owed.
In Oregon, 5 percent of people who received their first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination are late for their second shot, according to the state’s public health data.
But researchers have cause for concern. Vaccinations for other types of diseases can give an idea of the challenge facing public health authorities. According to the anti-shingles vaccine Shingrix, about 25 percent of people who receive the first dose do not show up for their second dose, according to Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine researcher at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital.
“You have to hope to pay for the second dose,” he said.
It is not obvious that everyone will be eager to complete the vaccination process according to schedule, despite the scientific evidence that a booster makes the coronavirus vaccines more than 90 percent effective in preventing symptomatic diseases.
“The vast majority of people who received their second doses got it, but there are some who did not recommend it and are now past the six-week mark,” said Chris Van Deusen, a Texas Department spokesman. of State Health, said. Services, said in an email.
“We definitely want people to get their booster doses on time, because it’s important to boost immunity,” he said.
And as more vaccines outside health care workers and older Americans roll out in the front line, there are concerns that numbers could grow. Offit said states, provinces and healthcare providers should rely on a combination of newer technologies, such as smartphone notifications, as well as older tactics such as phone calls to make sure people get attention.
‘God only knows that retail pharmacies are good at this. “As soon as your prescription arrives, you get the message and get it again and again and again,” he said.
The push takes place against the backdrop of a public debate over whether the second shots should be delayed and to focus on the first shots for as many people as possible. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, sent a letter to Biden government officials this week to consider moving to a one-dose strategy, an idea that many experts, including Offit, consider ill-considered. , because that’s not how the 19 vaccines were tested. Immunization is weaker and may not last as long with one dose, Offit said.
The guidelines of the Biden administration and states are to complete the two-dose regimen.
A second dose is about three weeks after the first dose for the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, and about four weeks for the Moderna vaccine, according to guidelines published last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the CDC also said the boosters could be given up to six weeks later if it is not feasible to get them earlier.
The first doses of the Pfizer vaccine were administered on December 14, meaning that the recommended interval had just ended for second shots for the patients.
There could be a number of reasons why people did not get their second shots, experts said, and there is still no good evidence on the main reasons. This may include limited inventory, canceled appointments, fear of side effects, forgetfulness or problems with the appointment.
Politics can also be a factor. Offit said he was concerned that some state governors were quietly emphasizing the second doses. He said he had spoken to public health authorities who felt pressure to prioritize the first doses, at least in part because the numbers were often highlighted in the news media. He did not want to identify the states.
“There is pressure to get as many people vaccinated as possible so that your state does not look as bad as other countries,” Offit said.
Not all states report data on how many people are in arrears for their second doses, making it difficult for public health and medical experts to determine the amount of catch-up that states and healthcare providers have to make.
Florida reported the number of overdose doses in January, indicating that tens of thousands of people were late at the time. But the label may not have made sense under the ultimate leadership of CDC, as it was before six weeks had elapsed since the first doses on December 14th. Anyway, Florida has finally stopped reporting the number.
Jason Salemi, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida, said it was still difficult to know if states were struggling or how worried they were. He said he was encouraged that Florida has administered more second doses than first doses in recent days.
“It will take a little deeper investigation to know if we should be concerned about this,” he said. “I hope they at least collect, analyze and follow up on the information.”
The Florida Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment.
Vaccination experts are concerned that people do not realize that one dose of Pfizer or Moderna shots will not be enough to completely protect them from the virus. Offit is specifically concerned that it may be easier for the coronavirus alone to take only one dose of the mRNA vaccine, or to wait months between doses.
“One dose can make it easier to create variants because the virus is wounded with a lesser immune response and not killed,” he said in an email. “And if it’s wounded, it’s a chance to escape.”