Now that many have been vaccinated, the question arises whether you need a refresher vaccine.
At present, neither researchers nor vaccine manufacturers know whether a refresher vaccine will be needed. But they are now trying to find out.
Researchers at the University of Southampton have now started a study to find out which vaccines are best suited as a third dose, writes BBC.
They will test seven vaccines, and the participants in the study will receive a third dose to investigate whether one is better protected with three doses than two.
– Probable
“We do not know how long one is protected after vaccination, and mutations have emerged that can make the immune response from vaccination less effective,” the researchers write in the rationale for the study and continues:
– It is therefore likely that it may be necessary to give people in high-risk groups an extra dose after a period.
The third dose should be given to participants ten to twelve weeks after the second dose.
The first results from the study are expected in September.
Professor and director of the research unit Oxford Vaccine Group, Andrew Pollard, says BBC that it is too early to say yes or no to whether you need a third dose. At the moment, there is no evidence that you become less protected over time, he says.
– DON’T KNOW: Vaccine research takes place in real time, so we do not yet know how long you are protected after two doses of a covid-19 vaccine, says director Andrew Pollard for Oxford Vaccine Group. Here he is at a press conference with the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in November last year. Photo: Henry Nicholls / AP / NTB
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The research unit he works for helped develop AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Pollard believes it is important that everyone over the age of 50 receives their second dose because then they are better protected against the delta variant, which now dominates in the UK.
– Few vaccinated people end up in hospital after being infected with the delta variant. However, it is clear that some people may have underlying diseases that respond less well to the vaccines. It will be important in the future to find out who these are and who needs extra protection, either treatment or an additional dose, says Pollard.
He says that it is known from clinical studies that one is protected at least six months after the second dose of mRNA vaccines.
The vaccine manufacturer Pfizer is also in the process of researching whether we need a refresher vaccine and, if so, who needs it and when.
They have started researching fully vaccinated people who were later infected with the coronavirus to find out if and possibly when they need a refresher vaccine, a so-called booster dose, writes Bloomberg.
Hope to drop this fall
Sweden’s vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström tells TV 2 that it will probably be relevant with an extra vaccine dose. The question is when, he believes.
– NOK VACCINES: Vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström says the EU has enough to vaccinate all Europeans twice next year. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist / TT / NTB
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– I think it will be relevant with a booster, even without any new mutations. What can lead to the need for a booster earlier are new mutations that the vaccines do not work as well against, says the vaccine dealer.
– I hope we do not have to take an extra dose this year, he also says.
The EU has made an agreement with Pfizer for 2022 and 2023 that involves 1.8 billion vaccine doses, half of the option. It is enough to vaccinate everyone in the EU twice.
Part of the agreement is that Pfizer delivers an updated vaccine that better protects against the mutations.
According to Bergström, the EU “these days” lands a similar agreement with Moderna.
FHI: Three reasons for extra dose
Chief physician Sara Viksmoen Watle at the National Institute of Public Health says there are three different reasons why extra vaccine doses may be necessary.
“Underlying disease or treatment that makes the patient need more than two doses to achieve protection, that the immune response weakens over time or that there are new virus variants that make the vaccines do not work as well,” she writes in an e-mail to TV 2.
– THREE REASONS: FHI chief physician Sara Watle says there are three reasons why an extra dose of vaccine may be necessary. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB
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Like the experts, it is not clear if or when an extra dose will be needed.
If it becomes relevant, it may be that only some selected groups will need an extra dose.
“Clinical studies have so far documented a sustained immune response and protection against coronavirus disease for up to 6 months for the mRNA vaccines, but it is assumed that the protection will last even longer as long as the virus does not change too much,” writes Watle.
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