We don’t know how long protection will last from the COVID-19 vaccines, which has led to speculation that we may all need a booster vaccination – perhaps annually, like with flu shots – to stay protected. Pfizer recently announced they plan to apply for FDA approval for a booster dose of their vaccine soon.
But after a joint statement by CDC and FDA, People who finished their vaccinations six months ago are still well protected, and there is still no evidence that a booster vaccination is needed:
Americans who are fully vaccinated currently do not need a booster vaccination. The FDA, CDC, and NIH are working on a science-based, rigorous process to see if or when a refresher might be needed. This process takes into account laboratory data, clinical study data, and cohort data – which may include data from certain pharmaceutical companies, but are not solely reliant on that data. We will continue to review all new data as it becomes available and will keep the public informed. We are prepared for booster doses when science shows they are needed.
That doesn’t mean that boosters won’t be needed at some point, just that it isn’t time yet. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Vaccination Practices discussed the available data in a meeting in June. which you can see here in presentation slides. A working group that looked into the question suggested that boosters only be recommended if one of the following conditions is met:
- When evidence shows vaccines are less effective, measured by the fact that more people get COVID despite being vaccinated. This has not happened yet.
- If an “escape variant” has been discovered, ie a variant the COVID virus, which can evade vaccination protection. Nor did this happen.
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The members of the panel appeared to agree with these criteria, although the topic was discussed only as food for thought and was not voted on.
It is possible that boosters will eventually be recommended for certain populations, even if they are not recommended for everyone. Research is still being conducted into whether People with weakened immune systems may benefit from them and whether the elderly who have received some of the earliest doses of the vaccine see their protection waning from the rest of us.
One panel member noted that patients requested booster doses based on media they had read, although booster doses did not currently exist and were not officially recommended.
What we know so far
We still don’t have a test that can tell with certainty whether a person is protected against COVID, but there is evidence that some type of blood test to neutralize antibody titers is linked to a lower chance of developing the disease. (Neutralizing antibodies are one way our bodies can fight off viruses, but they’re not the only one.)
Several studies have shown that these antibodies remain high enough to suggest protection at least eight months after COVID infection and at least six months after vaccination. Since the vaccine has not been available very long, we don’t have data that is much further away. One of the largest studies, called HEROES-RECOVER, is tracking health care workers and other key workers who began receiving the vaccine after it was approved in December 2020. This is the same study that recently found Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be 91% effective under real conditions.
More data will be added. HEROES RECOVER employees will continue to be tracked, and vaccine manufacturers will also track people who have participated in their clinical trials. Further studies on the effectiveness of vaccines and immune responses to variants are ongoing. So at some point we may find out that we need boosters, but at the moment they are neither available nor needed.
This post was originally published June 2021 and updated on July 9, 2021 to include Pfizer’s announcement to apply for approval for a booster dose and the statement from the FDA and CDC in response.
