Although many countries have already rolled out a 4th dose of the experimental COVID-19 shot, the World Health Organization said “there isn’t any good evidence at this point of time” that the additional booster will be beneficial.
WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan also told CNBC “what we know from immunology is that if you give another booster, you will see a temporary increase in the neutralizing antibodies. But what we’ve also seen is that these neutralizing antibodies will wane quite rapidly.”
In a nutshell, the WHO is saying a 4th shot is pointless.
Too bad the first three doses were also pointless.
Even the WHO admits that any immunity boost from a 4th shot wanes so rapidly that there is NO evidence to support administering additional boosters.
But, hey, who needs evidence when you've got hysteria?https://t.co/JwDGE0SL0I
— PLC (@Humble_Analysis) May 9, 2022
From CNBC:
“This happened after the third dose. And it’s happened again after the fourth dose,” she added.
Paul Goepfert, professor of medicine at the University of Alabama, shared that view, saying that “a fourth dose doesn’t really do much of anything … I’m not sure we need to get out and just jump up and down screaming that everybody needs to get aboard.”
MSN added:
The fourth dose is intended to extend the protection the COVID-19 vaccines provide. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already authorized it for people aged 50 and above and the immunocompromised. But many have been wondering if the fourth dose will also be rolled out to the general public.
Last October, the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) issued new guidance on how the elderly and immunocompromised should stay protected amid the ongoing pandemic. The public health agency cited vaccine efficacy data in various studies to back its fourth dose recommendation.
Though the CDC recommended the fourth dose for people 50 and older, it did not give the go signal for it to be administered in healthy adults in the absence of a more solid health strategy amid the emergence of newer SARS-CoV-2 variants and whatnot.
In the end, health regulators will likely have to seek approval from the pharmaceutical companies before withholding a 4th booster from the general public.
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