New Delhi: COVID-19 vaccine booster dose may soon become crucial in the US for better protection against COVID-19. This is what US' top infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci has to say on this.
His statement comes after the Food and Drug Administration rejected the proposal for administration of booster dose for protection against COVID-19. The US FDA panel had previously cancelled the widespread administration of the third dose in people aged 16 and over. Pfizer had presented a 52-page proposal to the Food and Drug Administration, which recently included data from Israeli research in support of booster shots.
Booster Dose Necessary For Complete Protection Against COVID-19: Dr. Fauci
Research had shown that booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines could prevent both infections and serious diseases in 60-year-olds. This proposal was also supported by US President Joe Biden's administration. However, the panel has approved the administration of booster doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 65 and over.
Dr. Fauci said, "I'm willing to promote administration of booster shots on the basis of diminishing immunity. We could see the benefits of booster shots more clearly from the data obtained from our Israeli peers as compared to our own data.
UK is witnessing some signs of immunity deficiency among people, which will soon lead to the UK giving booster shots to people aged 50 along with health care professionals and people with compromised immunity.
According to a research published in the New England Journal of Medicine, people administered with Pfizer's COVID-19 booster shots showed 11 times lower infection rate after 12 days of getting booster dose. The rate of serious illness in these people decreased by 20 times compared to just 2 doses of the vaccine.
Similarly, Moderna has also claimed that protection from their mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 can only last six months, thereby strongly advocating booster doses.
However, countries such as Israel, UAE, Russia, France, Germany and Italy have already started moving forward with booster doses. However, many scientists, including the World Health Organization, have opposed administration of COVID-19 booster doses. In an interview published in the Lancet, a group of international scientists argued that the effect of the vaccines against severe COVID-19, even including the Delta variant, has been considerable.
Therefore it is 'not recommended' to administer booster doses at this stage. In an interview with 'The Telegraph', Astra Zeneca CEO said that the COVID-19 booster dose need not be administered to everyone.