FDA Approves Boosters for Over 65

Michael Siegel

Michael Siegel is an astronomer living in Pennsylvania. He blogs at his own site, and has written a novel.

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15 Responses

  1. Jaybird says:

    Chubsters are at risk.

    I get a booster.

    All y’all skinny people of good repute can enjoy your two shots and your assurance from the gummint that you’re doin’ fine without a third.Report

    • fillyjonk in reply to Jaybird says:

      Hm. Yesterday when I heard the news I was like “okay then I guess I don’t have to plan a day to get one and then another day to lie around the house” but yeah, I am (technically) JUST in the “obese” category. But I don’t know? My metabolic panels are always good (my doctor sighs “your blood numbers are better than mine”) and I am generally in good health.

      and of course I live in Vaccine-Refusal Central, so there are more potential sources of infection than some places.

      The thing I have loathed most in all of this is how on my own I have been to figure out what to do. All of adulthood is making it up as you go along, but here, making it up wrong could possibly kill you.

      I guess I’ll continue to sit at home and do very little, and wait and see what my doctor says in January when I have a checkup 🙁Report

  2. This advice is very Pfizer-cetric. It’s not clear what those of us who got J&J, which seems to be the least effective of the vaccines (though still much better than nothing) should do.Report

    • Brandon Berg in reply to Mike Schilling says:

      Sorry, as a member of the Moderna Master Race, I can’t hear you over the sound of all the antibodies coursing through my veins.Report

      • This past Wednesday Moderna released preliminary data they say suggests effectiveness against mild cases declines over time.

        Full disclosure: My wife and I both received the Moderna shots.Report

        • Brandon Berg in reply to Michael Cain says:

          That was pretty much expected, wasn’t it? Obviously the antibody response wasn’t going to last forever. I assume the general shape of the curve looks like Pfizer’s, but starting from a higher point.Report

          • PD Shaw in reply to Brandon Berg says:

            But the B and T cells provide long-lasting immunity and Pfizer only presented evidence on antibodies. Apparently Pfizer (nor Moderna) have that kind of data.Report

            • Michael Cain in reply to PD Shaw says:

              The White House has put the FDA in a bind. They have basically said there will be a booster program later this year, at least for the oldsters and other at risk groups. Now it’s up to the FDA to figure out the terms under which such a program will operate.

              Yesterday’s panel provided cover for the FDA to approve a booster for people who are Pfizer-vaccinated. Moderna has provided enough data to provide cover for extending that EUA to cover a booster for people who got the Moderna shots. The J&J people may be left out.Report

              • PD Shaw in reply to Michael Cain says:

                I don’t understand the plan and wasn’t even sure there was one until I googled around Friday. But the first issue is that this is a company-driven process. I believe J&J conducted simultaneous trials for single dose and two dose vaccination and only submitted one dose presumably because at that point the one-dose had a comparative advantage over the mRNA vaccines. But if J&J doesn’t ask for approval, that’s that.

                The other issue is that the studies get harder and harder as we are now left with observational studies in a population that is highly infected and vaccinated, with heterogenous human responses to each, and a wide variation of socialization.Report

            • Brandon Berg in reply to PD Shaw says:

              I can’t remember where, but I saw some data on this, and T cells don’t last much longer than antibodies. It’s only the B cells that stick around long-term.Report

              • PD Shaw in reply to Brandon Berg says:

                It appears that memory T cells may decline, but I don’t think they would decline like antibodies. Memory cells are the source of long-term protective immunity.

                This paper found more memory B cells at 6 months than at 1 month post symptom onset, with no apparent half-life. For T cells, they found the half-life to be about 3-6 months, but comparable T Cells immunity from small pox and SARs would predict that T Cell levels would stabilize btw/ 6-12 months. (SARS T-Cell response has been shown 17 years after the outbreak)

                Immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 assessed for up to 8 months after infection
                Report

    • I think the FDA, with some help from the CDC and White House, have dug themselves a nasty procedural hole. There’s going to be a lot of pressure on them to at least extend EUAs to cover boosters for Moderna for the same groups they approved for Pfizer, mix-and-match vaccines in a number of situations, and cover kids. And most of it will have to be done to a political schedule, not a technical one.

      I got an e-mail from Kaiser yesterday, much more weasel-worded than they usually are, about boosters. At least here in Colorado, they seem to be (justifiably, IMO) concerned about having to treat members who got the Moderna vaccine differently than they treat the members who got the Pfizer shots.Report

    • Dark Matter in reply to Mike Schilling says:

      Go get a real vaccine.

      I strongly expect that sort of mixing and matching is good for you.

      I also strongly expect we won’t get advise suggesting that until after the “vaccine equity world wide” issue has been solved. That panel suggested you need a booster if your health profile is poor or if your exposure profile is high (i.e. you work in HC).

      Some of the arguments coming out of that panel suggest their reasoning was more “equity” based than “this would help an individual” based.Report