The health director in Loudoun County, Virginia, told 草莓传媒 that the expected recommendation that people get a COVID-19 vaccine booster will probably make the vaccines look a lot like flu shots 鈥� a regular thing.
鈥淭here is some evidence that over time, that initial protection that we all got from the vaccination process may start to wane,鈥� said Dr. David Goodfriend, of the Loudoun County Health Department. 鈥淚f that protection is starting to wane, there’s value in boosting it to get you back up to where you started from.鈥�
鈥淚t’s not any different from when we get a tetanus booster every 10 years,鈥� he added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected in the next couple of weeks to recommend third shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines eight months after their second shots, as data show that their effectiveness can slump around the eight-month mark. Federal health officials last week recommended boosters for some people with compromised immune systems.
Researchers are still collecting data on the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine; it鈥檚 not known when or whether they鈥檒l make a recommendation.
Goodfriend said there shouldn鈥檛 be much trouble with supplies for third shots, since no one is eight months away from vaccination yet, and people will become eligible for the boosters gradually. 鈥淲e won’t know how it will roll out until we receive recommendations from the CDC, but very likely, it will be rolled out the same way the initial vaccines were,鈥� with older people and health care workers getting first priority. 鈥淏ut that’s not until the end of September or October, at the earliest.鈥�
He added that most people 鈥渕ay still be fully covered by their initial vaccination process. But there鈥檚 that opportunity, as we’re getting into October and November, to go to your doctor, go to your pharmacist, go to other places that have the COVID vaccine, and get your flu shot at the same time.鈥�
The doctor added that anyone who can get vaccinated, and hasn鈥檛 been, really should.
鈥淭he best thing that we can do to keep ourselves protected from the Delta variant and reduce transmission is vaccination. On top of that, it’s wearing a mask while you’re indoors. Because we know that fully vaccinated people, while it’s extremely unlikely that they’ll get hospitalized or died from the Delta variant, can still get infected at some level, and can still potentially pass it on.鈥�
Some people, Goodfriend said, are holding out because they fear not enough is known about the vaccine. But he said plenty is known at this point. 鈥淭his is a vaccine that over 100 million Americans have already received, and some of them received them seven, eight months ago.鈥�
As for the other reasons people may have, Goodfriend said people should go to sources of information that they go to for other major medical decisions. 鈥溾�橲hould I eat healthy? Should I exercise? Should I go on blood pressure medicine?鈥� You talk to your doctor, talk to your pastor, talk to people you trust.鈥� The COVID-19 vaccine, he said, shouldn鈥檛 be any different.
Eventually, he said, the shots will be part of the routine.
鈥淚t really will turn out, eventually, to be very similar to our flu shots 鈥� typically, people start getting flu shots in October, and that process will go from October usually through December and into January.鈥�
草莓传媒’s Valerie Bonk contributed to this report.
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