The first three shots of the Covid-19 vaccine may have been a fast miracle against the virus, but we have both Pfizer and Moderna asking the United States government to give their consent for the fourth dose. Meanwhile, experts have stressed that boosters of the same shot may only be necessary for certain individuals at high risk of the virus.
Pfizer, however, submitted an application to the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for an additional booster dose for adults aged 65 years and older.
According to Albert Bourls, Pfizer's CEO, Americans needed to prepare to get covid boosters annually. Bourla sufficed that at the moment, the protection from a third covid vaccination is good enough, quite good, for hospitalizations and deaths, but that his concern was on the duration.
Moderna also submitted a EUA to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the same fourth dose of the covid vaccine, stating that the EUA would allow fourth doses to be administered to all adults.
This in-turn would help healthcare providers determine the appropriate use of boosts among their patients by weighing factors including a person's age and comorbidities.
This theory doesn't seem to be the case with some independent infectious disease experts and also advisors of the FDA on vaccines. They are of the notion that the fourth dose of the covid booster might not be the perfect move because of the following reasons:
The Vaccines are Still the Same, but the Virus has Changed
Experts believe that the vaccines manufactured to curb the coronavirus were not adjusted to target the covid 19 variants, like omicron and its subvariant BA.2.
Speaking on the issue, Dr. James Hildreth, FDA advisor on vaccines and infectious disease expert, commented:
"I don't think that the pharmaceutical companies should be talking about boosts with the same vaccines that we have. I would much prefer the focus to be on looking at the sequences that have come out from the variants that we've dealt with. And, of course, try to do a vaccine that would offer protection against those, as opposed to just giving people a fourth shot.”
Zero Data Prove the Necessity of the Fourth Dose
Data may have suggested that older people and those with preexisting health issues may benefit from the fourth booster; however, data doesn't show the efficacy of a fourth booster on younger immune systems in fighting and stopping acute disease.
According to a recent study by CDC, the vaccines in early January provided 88% relief against acute issues like assisted ventilation and death with two shots and 94% with a third, proving that a booster shot might only provide little or no effects.
Moderna executives also think that oncoming booster programs should be for the highly vulnerable at this point. Stephen Hoge, the President of Moderna, speaking with Insider, expressed, "for those who have cancer, COVID can be a life-threatening disease, even post-vaccination."
From his statement, extra boosters aren't for individuals under sixty-five who do not have underlying illnesses.
Fourth Doses Provide Fewer Effects
When we say that the fourth doses of covid vaccines provide fewer effects, we aren't implying that fourth doses are less effective or useless, but the truth is their effect is minute as compared to the first, second, and third shots.
Dr. Barney Graham, a co-investor of Moderna's covid-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health, reported to Insider, "We have vaccines right now that do protect from severe disease. The vaccines are working more as we expected. At this point, mild COVID-19 infection in young, healthy people vaccinated is not necessarily a major cause for concern.”
He continued by stressing that it’s part of how vaccines work. You protect the lower airway and upper airway exposures, and very mild or no disease will boost the responses. With this, an individual is kept immune.
Conclusion
The main goal now is to identify people most vulnerable to acute diseases and death and ensure they are protected. According to Graham, more vaccines should be sent to other parts of the globe that are in dire need of it instead of a booster that may only increase the antibodies at a minimal range.