Can We See The End Of The Pandemics Road?
August 10, 2021
If You Were Asymptomatic From The Vaccine, Are You Still Protected?
August 12, 2021When COVID vaccinations were released, it seemed promising that we might be turning the corner against the virus. For the most part, there wasn't a lot of consideration put into if the virus will mutate for the general population. Unfortunately, it has mutated into multiple variants, like how the flu does yearly. When the vaccines were released, America saw a large decline in hospitalizations and cases were generally less severe. But now, we are facing the delta and lambda variants. The delta variant has quickly taken over the majority of cases after being discovered first in India. The vaccine is not completely resistant to the delta variant, but studies show that with the vaccine, you are far less likely to end up hospitalized or even die if you contract COVID. The lambda variant has recently been discovered in Peru and has started making its way to a few other countries, but expect it to keep spreading. This variant of COVID is scary because Peru has the CoronaVac which is manufactured and distributed by China, and studies are showing that the vaccine does not work all that great against the lambda variant, even less so than the delta variant. So this leads to the question, will we need another booster to help build immunity to these vaccines, or could they possibly produce another vaccine that is stronger and builds more immunity to the new variants?
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The issue with creating a new vaccine to try and contain these new variants would be a lengthy process, and with the amount of time it would take, we may have another variant that the new vaccine would not work against due to a lack of data and research on a new variant. However, finding a way to adapt and fine tune the already existing variant might be the better route. But, before we cross that bridge, is another booster even going to be effective? In some cases where individuals have weaker immune systems, a booster may not be a bad idea. Medical News Today states, “booster shots might be most beneficial for those who have medical conditions — such as some solid organ transplant recipients (e.g., kidney transplant) and some individuals with autoimmune diseases (e.g., lupus) — that prevent them from developing an effective immune response after the first round of vaccination.” Ideally, the first people to get the next shots are the individuals who have not yet received any sort of vaccine, and then it’s the compromised immune systems that should be next in line (or first) for the booster.
Before we just go ahead and decide a booster is needed, there needs to be a scientific explanation of its efficacy. Medical News Today talked with Dr. Jessica Justman, an associate professor of epidemiology, and she stated, “we would first need evidence that a booster shot for these individuals is safe and effective.” On the flip side, MNT stated, “Other scientists say that the opportunity cost of not providing booster vaccines outweighs the lack of research underpinning their use.” It’s interesting to see combative takes on the booster from qualified scientists. Considering there were some problems with the previous vaccines, there was some growing fear of what the vaccine may do to an individual. Those cases were very few and far between, and vaccines react differently in everyone’s body. It would make sense for scientists to move with a sense of urgency, but also ensuring the individuals receive the vaccine booster are safe, as well.
Now, people who are healthy and are fully vaccinated people should be less worried about getting a booster quite yet. Dr. Richard Stanton, a reader in the Division of Infection and Immunity at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, states, “Based on current data, for people who respond well to the vaccine, it looks like immunity remains strong for over 12 months and works even against the new variants,” and continued on, “My personal opinion is, therefore, that we don’t need to be too worried about boosting them yet.” He did caution that those with lower immune systems will need a booster before healthy, young people. Ideally, we can get into a place where we are not playing catch up with the virus and vaccines for it, but at the rate it is mutating, it’s a very hard thing to keep up on.
Studies are currently being conducted on booster shots, and an updated vaccine that work more effectively against the delta variant. We should know more about both of these in the near future, and ideally start bring the world back to a safe state.
