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It causes antibody-making B cells to multiply, elevating the levels of antibodies against the pathogen once more. Credit: Guillermo Legaria/GettyĪ booster does several things to these cells, says Ali Ellebedy, a B-cell immunologist at Washington University in St. This leaves behind a small pool of long-lasting ‘memory’ B and T cells that patrol the body for future infections by that pathogen.Ī health worker administers vaccines door-to-door in a rural area of Jerusalen, Colombia. Vaccination produces an initial surge in the number of immune cells churning out antibodies and other molecules, which then slowly drops. Here, Nature looks at what scientists know - and what they wish they knew - about COVID-19 vaccine boosters. “It’s a difficult call and it will almost certainly have to be made on incomplete evidence,” says Robert Aldridge, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at University College London. And, as the Delta variant surges in many countries, health authorities might not have the luxury of waiting around for definitive answers. Meanwhile, not enough is known about groups that might really need extra doses, such as older people and those with compromised immune systems. As a result, people might start getting boosters that have no real benefit. But it’s likely that key gaps will remain for some time. The data on whether and when boosters might be needed are trickling in.
But really, we don’t have strong arguments for it right now.”ĬOVID boosters for wealthy nations spark outrage “Down the line, probably, we would need to think of it. “Wasting resources on boosters for those who are already protected against severe disease does not really make too much sense,” says Laith Jamal Abu-Raddad, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar in Doha. On 4 August, the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September.
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They might not be necessary for most people, and could divert much-needed doses away from others. Germany and Israel have announced plans for booster-shot programmes, and a growing list of countries including the United Arab Emirates, China and Russia have already started administering extra doses.īut scientists say that the case for COVID-19 vaccine boosters at this point is weak. In the face of soaring infection numbers caused by the highly contagious Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, and hints that immunity triggered by COVID-19 vaccines might fade over time, some countries are considering whether to give further doses to those who have been fully vaccinated. To boost or not to boost? That is the question facing countries fortunate enough to have vaccinated much of their adult population.