So it wanes pretty much like all of the other first-generation Covid vaccines that are currently being used... Antibody triggered by Sinopharm COVID booster wanes after six months - study https://www.reuters.com/business/he...ster-wanes-after-six-months-study-2022-02-22/
Most likely a 4th shot may be coming in the fall in the U.S. The current vaccines wane in effectiveness somewhere between the 5 month to 14 month mark in most individuals. So at this point it is similar to the flu vaccine -- except Covid is much more deadly than the seasonal flu. We need to speed up research & development on a universal, permanent coronavirus vaccine -- which is probably five years out at this point. And the word "permanent" in this context probably mean 10 years rather than a lifetime. America prepares for a potential 4th COVID shot https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-v...ael-a1e931c0-4b93-4f45-b549-9ffe1c724a98.html Even as the Omicron wave winds down, federal health officials, experts and the vaccine makers are already preparing for a potential fourth COVID shot to protect against whatever may come next. The catch: It's not yet clear whether another booster shot will be needed. And if it is, there are even more questions around who should receive one and what kind of shot would be most effective. What they're saying: "The potential future requirement for an additional boost or a fourth shot for mRNA or a third shot for J&J is being very carefully monitored in real time. And recommendations, if needed, will be updated according to the data as it evolves," NIAID director Anthony Fauci told reporters last week. The federal government plans to test new vaccines that combine multiple strains of the virus to find what offers the broadest coverage, a senior Biden administration official told Axios. The goal is to increase the odds of having a shot ready that works against whatever strain comes next. State of play: Fourth doses are already authorized for immunocompromised people. However, for most people, data suggests that a single booster shot offers strong protection against severe disease, including from Omicron. But the big question is how long that protection against hospitalization and death will last. The U.K. recently decided that it will soon offer fourth shots to the elderly and some people with health conditions, per The Sunday Times. Between the lines: If protection does wane, officials will have to consider who would need another shot, and what that shot should be. Vulnerable people, for example, would most likely see much more benefit from another booster shot than young, healthy people — a distinction particularly important in light of global vaccination inequities. And while Pfizer and Moderna are both testing Omicron-specific vaccines, preliminary results from animal studies suggest that an Omicron shot doesn't offer much, if any, benefit compared to vaccines that targetthe original COVID strain. It also may not offer as much protection against other variants. "If by some amazing rarity there are people in the states who have neither been infected nor vaccinated and decide they want an Omicron vaccine ... the antibody response they generate would be quite narrow," said Cornell virologist John Moore. Zoom in: Israel has already offered fourth shots and has begun to release preliminary data on their effect. One preprint released earlier this month found that a fourth shot offered only marginal improvement against infection over the third shot. However, a separate Israeli preprint found that a fourth shot led to lower rates of infection and severe disease. The bottom line: The need for another booster shot will also depend on how much the virus keeps circulating. "It may not be as big an issue in the U.S. if we're really at a contained state," said Scripps Research Executive Vice President Eric Topol. But, he cautioned, we got lucky that a third shot of the original vaccine works so well against Omicron — and there's no guarantee that luck will hold against another variant. "We have to run not just on luck. This is not a casino here," Topol said. "We have to do better."
Myocarditis risk justifies delay in second mRNA shot for men, CDC says The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that males ages 12 to 39 can extend the time between the first and second doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to mitigate the relatively low risk of developing myocarditis. The agency announced on Tuesday that male patients could receive the second shot eight weeks after the first, instead of waiting, as previously advised, three weeks in the case of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or four weeks in the case of the Moderna vaccine. The CDC urged men to take caution about myocarditis, the rare cardiac episode which causes inflammation of the heart muscle that can reduce the heart's ability to pump and cause arrhythmias. While the risk exists, the top public health agency insists the condition is rare.
Sanofi and GSK seek approval for Covid-19 vaccine The drugmakers hope to catch up with rivals after reporting positive results from late-stage clinical trials https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/23/sanofi-and-gsk-seek-approval-for-covid-19-vaccine The French and British drugmakers Sanofi and GSK are ready to seek approval from regulators for their Covid-19 vaccine after reporting positive results from late-stage clinical trials. The firms are hoping to catch up with rivals after falling far behind in the race to develop Covid-19 shots. Their product was delayed by an early dosing error during trials, initially disappointing results in older people and other issues. It will be available as a two-dose vaccine and as a booster. The companies will now file for approval from regulators, including the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, while a rolling review with the UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, is already under way. Sanofi developed the jab, while GSK, the world’s biggest vaccine maker by sales, is supplying its adjuvant technology, to boost the body’s immune response. It relies on a conventional protein-based approach, compared with the newer mRNA technology used by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, which makes it easier to store and transport. The companies said the phase 3 efficacy trials showed that two doses of the jab provided 100% efficacy against severe Covid-19 disease and hospitalisations; 75% efficacy against moderate or severe Covid-19 disease; and 57.9% efficacy against any symptomatic Covid-19 disease. They said the latter is in line with expected vaccine effectiveness given the emergence of several variants of concern, such as Omicron, and similar to other vaccines. A separate trial showed that the jab boosted antibody levels against the virus 18 to 30 times across all age groups, when used in people who had been given two doses of other vaccines such as the Pfizer/BioNTech, Modern and Oxford/AstraZeneca shots. Thomas Triomphe, the executive vice-president of Sanofi Vaccines, said: “The Sanofi-GSK vaccine demonstrates a universal ability to boost all platforms and across all ages. “We also observed robust efficacy of the vaccine as a primary series in today’s challenging epidemiological environment. No other global phase 3 efficacy study has been undertaken during this period with so many variants of concern, including Omicron, and these efficacy data are similar to the recent clinical data from authorised vaccines.” Roger Connor, the president of GSK’s vaccines arm, said: “We are confident that this vaccine can play an important role as we continue to address this pandemic and prepare for the post-pandemic period.”
Let's just cut to the chase and get some truth out there. There is no Covid vaccine, just like there's no flu vaccine. There's a flu shot and a Covid shot. Both help limit the symptoms of said virus and offer some heightened immunity, but do not make one immune. They are helpful to those in certain demographics, some more than others, while at the same time being wholly unnecessary to the young and healthy, outliers aside. Time to move on from the we must eradicate the virus movement. That ain't happening, will never happen, can't happen. Myself twice jabbed and boosted again for good measure have had no ill effects other than some mild ear ringing which I know is associated with the shot in some cases. I do believe I had a very mild case of whatever the latest version they're calling the Wu-flu during December shortly after my boost. Did it help? Probably, along with a well taken care of immune system attained through proper nutrition, exercise and vitamin supplants. In conclusion there is no need for mandates, never was.
Excellent article from the Washington Post with many details and charts. The article is open to everyone with no firewall. Good find.