Scientists say that endless boosting might not be a viable strategy, nor is it how COVID vaccines were meant to be used.
Late last year, studies showed that third shots of COVID vaccines were effective at providing a little extra protection from infection — particularly in the face of the Omicron variant. Some countries are now offering fourth doses, but scientists say that endless boosting might not be a viable strategy, nor is it how these vaccines were meant to be used.
Some researchers say that the answer depends on the desired effect — whether boosters are intended to prevent infections and slow transmission of the virus, or whether the goal is to reduce severe disease and keep people out of hospital. Others point to evidence that extra doses could broaden the immune response enough to recognize new variants. Most agree that we need new vaccines that offer wider protection against future variants.
Real-world data from the United Kingdom, collected in late 2021, suggest that immunity from boosters might decrease even faster against Omicron than against Delta. However, another laboratory study, posted as a preprint which has yet to be peer reviewed, suggests that neutralizing antibodies elicited by a third dose could sustain protection against Omicron infections for up to four months.
Whether four shots boost levels of infection-blocking antibodies any higher than a third dose remains to be seen, Davenport says, but that hasn’t deterred nations including Chile, Cambodia, Denmark and Sweden from offering fourth doses to specific groups. Work led by Balazs further suggests that a third dose of an mRNA vaccine not only restores antibody levels but also potentially broadens responses to variants. After that booster, “the antibodies actually see Omicron now, where they effectively didn’t see it before”, he says.
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