As it has become clear from several studies that two doses of vaccines are not enough. Many countries around the world have completed their third dose booster programme and are working on 4th or 5th booster dose. Booster or Precautionary dose campaign in India has been started. At present, healthcare workers, frontline workers and people above 60 years of age with comorbidities are being inoculated with booster doses. Against this backdrop, it becomes important to understand about booster dose effectiveness duration.
What does the research say?
According to the UK Health Security Agency, after a booster dose, we get protection from corona infection for less than 6 months. However, scientists say that the third dose of the vaccine significantly reduces the risk of serious diseases in the future.
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Research results say that after the booster shot the protection against corona increases significantly. But within two to three weeks, this protection comes down to 70%. This efficiency reduced to half only after 3 months. After 4 months, the efficacy of a booster dose falls below 40%.
Why Booster shots are recommended?
Research has found that even after taking a booster dose, the patient may get infected with corona, but will not fall severely ill. According to scientists, two weeks after taking the third dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the risk of hospitalization is reduced by 95%. Even after 4 months, the risk remains low by 80%.
Newer variants are defying vaccines’ effect:
Existing vaccines and their booster doses were designed to fight the original form of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). However, the new variants like omicron, which is currently causing havoc across the world has undergone more than 50 mutations, due to which the properties of the virus have changed significantly. As a result, the booster dose is also not completely effective against this variant.
Also read: WHAT IS A PRECAUTION DOSE? WHY WE NEED IT AND ITS STATUS IN THE WORLD?
Variant specific vaccine:
Although there are diverse opinions among experts about the effect of the already existing COVID-19 vaccine on the new variant of Corona, Omicron. Now a vaccine specifically targeting the Omicron variant is on the way. Pune’s Gennova Biopharmaceuticals has been working on this new vaccine and its human trials are going to start soon.