Should I get another or a third dose of Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson and Johnson?

For the first time since January, coronavirus cases are increasing in all 50 states.

While the overwhelming majority of deaths, cases and hospitalizations involve unvaccinated people, the highly contagious Delta variant takes the country by storm. Meanwhile, anecdotal reports of breakthrough cases among vaccinees– though they hardly ever cause serious illness – are sounding the alarm bells as Americans desperately try to get back to something that looks like normal life.

For some, this can make the prospect of a so-called callback appealing. However, experts interviewed by The Daily Beast claim that the three vaccines currently authorized for emergency use in the United States – the two-dose vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, and a single-dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson – are more than enough to protect you.

In other words, deviating from what doctors, health officials, and the government recommend isn’t the way to avoid a frightening new variant.

“The medical consensus right now is that there is no real need for a booster,” Genevieve Kanter, assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, told The Daily Beast on Monday. studies disparities in health care.

“The vaccines appear to protect well against the new Delta variant, and although immunity wanes over time after the initial vaccination, we have yet to see a significant drop in immunity during this period,” a- she said, adding: “We may need reminders later, maybe eight to twelve months, but not yet.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that over the past week, daily new cases have increased by almost 70% nationwide. Deaths from the deadly virus have increased by 26% and hospitalizations have also increased by 36% in the past seven days.

The deadly combination of unvaccinated refractories and the Delta variant has even forced some state officials to revert to COVID-19 lockdown guidelines and renewed calls for mask mandates in several cities. But we know who is receiving and spreading Delta almost all the time, and these aren’t the people who got their full coronavirus vaccination.

“As the CDC director said, this is an unvaccinated pandemic,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior research fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and infectious disease specialist, told The Daily Beast.

Americans worried about the increase in the number of cases and reports of vaccinated people testing positive could be forgiven for wondering about their options.

Earlier this month, Pfizer announced that research shows their two-dose inoculation will likely require a booster “within six to 12 months of full vaccination.” In a statement, the New York pharmaceutical giant said it would seek emergency authorization for the recall in the United States. In israel, health officials have already started providing a third-dose option of Pfizer to residents with weaker immune systems after the increase in cases of the Delta variant.

However, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), CDC, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) all have pushed back the claims of the pharmaceutical company, writing in a joint statement that fully vaccinated Americans “do not need a booster just yet.” A Pfizer spokesperson referred The Daily Beast to the Statement of July 8 regarding their ongoing recall trial.

“The FDA, CDC, and NIH are in a rigorous, scientifically-based process to determine if or when a recall might be necessary. This process takes into account laboratory data, clinical trial data and cohort data, which may include data from specific drug companies, but is not based exclusively on that data, ”the regulators said in a statement. “We continue to review all new data as it becomes available and will keep the public informed. We are ready for booster doses if and when science shows they are needed. “

Yet on Friday the FDA received Pfizer and BioNTech Priority Review designation for full approval – as opposed to just emergency clearance – of their COVID-19 vaccination for people aged 16 and over. This status would make the future deployment of boosters much more fluid from a logistical point of view.

The other two vaccine makers currently in emergency use in the United States have also indicated that they are considering the possibility of recalls. Johnson & Johnson looks at another dose of their existing single vaccine which was less effective than the other two inoculations and suffered setbacks regarding very rare side effect issues. The reputation of the coup would have sent some J&J recipients looking for another vaccine doses in the hope of better protection.

Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical company Moderna also indicated that he is investigating potential third doses, including the possibility of an additional half-dose of his existing vaccine.

In a statement to the Daily Beast, a spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson said the company believes its single-injection vaccine “will continue to provide long-lasting protection and that at present there is no evidence suggesting the need for a booster dose. Moderna did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.

For her part, Adalja believes it is “extremely premature” for people to go rogue and seek additional doses outside of local or federal guidelines.

“For the general healthy population, vaccinations work exactly as we want them to. They prevent serious illness, hospitalizations and death, ”Adalja told The Daily Beast. “It’s premature to pull the trigger for a booster until we see more solid data that shows the effectiveness of the shots is waning. I haven’t seen this yet.

Regarding the fear of some Americans about revolutionary cases, Adalja noted that such cases must happen because none of the vaccines are 100% effective. “There are not enough cases to report a problem,” he added.

Dr Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious disease specialist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of South Carolina, also stressed that Americans should not take extra doses of COVID-19.

“There isn’t good data to support this right now, and if we’re going to do it, we need scientific data to drive this practice,” Kuppalli told The Daily Beast. “I would prefer that additional doses of the vaccine be distributed to people in other countries who have not even received a single dose of the vaccine because we need to reduce the levels of COVID-19 around the world to prevent the development of more variations. If we can do that, we won’t need any booster doses.

Admitting that “if someone wanted to get an extra dose of the vaccine, they could do it because it was not being watched,” the pandemic preparedness expert noted that there was also a lack of information on mixing and matching vaccine doses. In short, she said, as studies are currently underway to determine whether the combination of a so-called “viral vector” shot – like that of Johnson & Johnson – with a jab of mRNA – like those of Moderna and Pfizer – will provide additional protection against COVID-19, it is too early to know.

“There are studies indicating that mixing / pairing different types of vaccines (viral vector + mRNA – one dose of each) can lead to a robust immune response, but there have been no large studies of effectiveness in the real world and there is no indication of the level or duration of protection, ”said Kuppalli. “There are also safety concerns with this operation in terms of side effects and unwanted effects.”

Those looking for extra protection can take other, simpler steps, even if they don’t involve a bullet in the arm.

“I would tell people to wait until then, and if they’re nervous then they shouldn’t get a third injection but instead use [things] that we know how to work – wear a face mask, avoid crowds and poorly ventilated areas, maintain a physical distance, ”said Kuppalli. “We know these things work, and the vaccine is one tool in our toolbox that we have to fight the virus. “