Studies suggest that vaccination protection wears off after about six months.
(Photo: AP)
new York Booster or non-booster? For many Americans who were vaccinated at the beginning of the year, the question is already whether they should refresh their vaccination against Covid-19 or not. Now a panel of experts from the FDA has also spoken out in favor of a booster vaccination with the Moderna vaccine for older and other high-risk patients. The vaccine was previously approved by Biontech and Pfizer for booster vaccinations and the booster is also in the room at Johnson & Johnson.
In the USA, the vaccination campaign began on a large scale in the first few months of the year. Most of the vaccine doses were given in March and April. This protected large parts of the population from serious Covid diseases at an early stage. But that also means that for many Americans, vaccination protection may have already declined significantly.
The decisions of the American Medicines Agency are also being followed with tension in Germany. In this country, the mass vaccinations started later, but in Germany, too, the question arises in two months at the latest whether and to whom the booster vaccinations should be administered.
So far, only Moderna, Biontech / Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson have been approved as vaccines against Covid-19 in the USA. With the vaccines from Moderna and Biontech / Pfizer, two doses are currently required for complete vaccination protection. At Johnson & Johnson one is enough so far. However, various studies show that vaccination protection wears off after six months after the second or only vaccination. This applies in particular to the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer, but also to Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
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For Biontech / Pfizer, the FDA had already officially approved the booster for risk groups after six months. Now, on Thursday, all 19 vaccine experts on the responsible FDA committee at Moderna also spoke out in favor of a booster after six months for people aged 65 and over and for people who are at higher risk because of previous illnesses, because of their job or because of their living conditions .
The FDA has not yet officially approved the booster for Moderna, but the American health authorities usually follow the judgment of their experts after a few days. After the official FDA decision, the US disease protection agency CDC (Center for Disease Control) has to give the green light. So far, a total of 69 million people in the United States have been vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine.
The FDA’s panel of experts will meet again on Friday to decide on Johnson & Johnson’s application for a possible booster with the vaccine. Studies on a possible booster by Moderna or Pfizer are also to be evaluated.
More: The number of vaccinated Covid-19 sufferers in intensive care units in Germany is increasing. How dangerous will the Corona autumn be?