[Question] What’s the status of third vaccine doses?

EmDDztkpLicy7wsxH

title

authors

Alex_Altair

date_published

2021-08-04T02:22

score

omega_karma

votes

tags

Covid-19

source

lesswrong

People seem to think that getting a third mRNA vaccine dose, or "booster shot", substantially increases immunity after 4ish months from your second dose.

Is it currently "illegal" to get one, or is it just the policy of all current pharmacies and vaccine distributors to refuse to give them?
Is there any shortage of vaccines in the US at this point? Would getting a booster shot counter-factually cause another person to get a dose later?
Is there chance that booster shots will become commonly available in the next month? Is it even in the Overton window of things that politicians are bothering to think about?
Lastly—because I assume the answer is no—is there any reason to think that getting a third shot of a different vaccine would be biologically dangerous?

Comment

id

rHCdzATNWBTbisT74
authors

Alex_Altair
score

6
omega_karma
votes

3
date_published

2021-08-04T17:09

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/EmDDztkpLicy7wsxH/what-s-the-status-of-third-vaccine-doses?commentId=rHCdzATNWBTbisT74

Whelp, to answer my own question, this is above the fold on the NYT right now.

The World Health Organization called on Wednesday for a moratorium on coronavirus vaccine booster shots until the end of September to help all countries vaccinate at least 10 percent of their populations, appealing to the world’s wealthiest nations to address dramatic disparities in global vaccination rates.… Scientists have still not come to a consensus on whether booster shots are necessary. But as worries emerge about continuing pandemic waves and future lockdowns, an increasing number of countries like Germany, Israel and France are preparing to give part of their population booster doses, or have already started. Studies have indicated that the immunity generated by the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines is long-lasting. Researchers are still working to understand recent Israeli data suggesting that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine declined in efficacy months after inoculation. (Granted, the WHO is not the CDC.)

Comment

id

DnxyXpJ9g8QFb43C4
authors

korin43
score

1
omega_karma
votes

1
date_published

2021-08-04T19:37

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/EmDDztkpLicy7wsxH/what-s-the-status-of-third-vaccine-doses?commentId=DnxyXpJ9g8QFb43C4

But is there any evidence that the US will actually start exporting doses if they’re unused, or will they just sit around until they expire?

Comment

id

bABpyLpFaruErSHZJ
authors

scrafty
score

2
omega_karma
votes

2
date_published

2021-08-04T21:14

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/EmDDztkpLicy7wsxH/what-s-the-status-of-third-vaccine-doses?commentId=bABpyLpFaruErSHZJ

The US is currently donating doses to other countries in large quantities. Domestically, it has around 54m doses distributed but not used right now. (https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations). Some but certainly not all of those are at risk of expiration. If US authorities recommended booster shots for the general population then that would easily use up the currently unused supply and reduce vaccine exports.

id

58nAzwqBd4SKZL2HH
authors

CraigMichael
score

3
omega_karma
votes

2
date_published

2021-08-04T07:20

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/EmDDztkpLicy7wsxH/what-s-the-status-of-third-vaccine-doses?commentId=58nAzwqBd4SKZL2HH

Britain and Germany are already planning to do this, to some extent, as is Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/britain-germany-to-begin-giving-3rd-doses-of-coronavirus-vaccine/

I keep hearing about vaccines expiring in the US. If it’s useful, better to use it than to have it get thrown out.

Some people are suggesting to get a third of a different vaccine than you got before (e.g. if you got Moderna get Pfizer or J&J)… by "some" I mean I heard it on the All-in Podcast. It was either on the July 15th episode or the July 22nd episode. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-in-with-chamath-jason-sacks-friedberg/id1502871393?i=1000529038600