A Booster for the Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines May Not be Necessary

Here’s some good news for those who’ve elected to take either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

I’ve heard on several occasions since the vaccine rollouts began that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines would most likely require a booster shot to sustain immunity, but a new study suggests that may not be the case.

The study, published by Nature on Monday, June 28, and reported on by WTVO, found that the vaccines provide immunity that is strong enough to protect the vaccinated for years to come.

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However, that may not be the case when it comes to evolution of variants of the coronavirus, according to University of Arizona immunologist Dr. Deepta Bhattacharya:

Anything that would actually require a booster would be variant-based, not based on waning of immunity. I just don’t see that happening.

Both vaccines use the new nRNA technology that teaches the cells in our bodies to create a protein that triggers an immune response, unlike old vaccine technologies that would inject weakened or inactivated germs into the body, according to the CDC.

Ali Ellebedy, PhD, the senior study author revealed the study found that the immune cells created by the vaccine were still present almost four months after getting the first dose of the vaccine, saying “germinal centers were still going strong 15 weeks after the vaccine’s first dose.”

That’s certainly good news for those who’ve put off getting their second dose of the vaccine beyond the recommended intervals of 21 days between doses of the Pfizer and 28 days between of the Moderna.

If you still need to get either dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, go to vaccines.gov to find a vaccine near you.