Will you get the Covid 19 Booster vaccine when it is available to you?

[missy]

If you have already had a Covid vaccine(s) will you get a booster when it becomes available to you?

If yes, why?
If no, why?
If you are undecided what will help you make up your mind?

 

[missy]

I definitely will get the booster when I am eligible.
I realize that Covid 19 is here to stay and a yearly shot is inevitable.
If the booster is deemed necessary I will get that too.

I believe in vaccines. They save lives.
The side effects one may get with the vaccine far outweighs the risk of getting the disease IMO.

I felt very sick after dose 2 of Moderna but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Because I can imagine how sick I would have been without the vaccine. I am actually looking forward to get the booster because I know no matter how ill it might make me it is safer for me than getting Covid 19 or a variant.

It is a waiting game and a game of patience.
I patiently wait til it is our turn.
And continue to mask and social distance and be careful.

 

[dk168]

Yes I shall take the booster when it is made available to me this and year after year like the flu vaccine; until it is deemed unnecessary.

I am now in the 'vulnerable' category due to an underlying health condition, therefore, better to be safe than sorry!

DK

 

[missy]

Yes I shall take the booster when it is made available to me this and year after year like the flu vaccine; until it is deemed unnecessary.

I am now in the 'vulnerable' category due to an underlying health condition, therefore, better to be safe than sorry!

DK

Did they give you a time frame for when you will be eligible for the booster?

 

[dk168]

Did they give you a time frame for when you will be eligible for the booster?

The latest information I had is that the NHS has planned to roll out the booster from September 2021 onwards, along with the flu jab, based on one's vulnerability, as in the most vulnerable will get it first etc...

Therefore, I expect to get it in late October or early November as I am not highly vulnerable compared to those who are very old and those who are immuno-compromised.

DK

 

[Slickk]

If you have already had a Covid vaccine(s) will you get a booster when it becomes available to you?

If yes, why?
If no, why?
If you are undecided what will help you make up your mind?

Yes I will. I work very closely with my students, so I will definitely get a booster. I do agree the vaccines are helping with hospitalizations and serious illness.
What’s this I read about ADE (Antibody Dependent Enhancement)? Anyone care to opine or explain if this is possible?

 

[missy]

Yes I will. I work very closely with my students, so I will definitely get a booster. I do agree the vaccines are helping with hospitalizations and serious illness.
What’s this I read about ADE (Antibody Dependent Enhancement)? Anyone care to opine or explain if this is possible?

"

Question:​

Do COVID-19 vaccines cause antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), also known as vaccine enhanced disease (VED)?

Answered by infectious diseases expert Nada Fadul, MD:​

Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) is something researchers watch for very carefully and is extremely rare. In ADE, certain antibodies make it easier for viruses to get into cells. This is bad because it would mean a virus or a vaccine makes people more at risk for severe disease.
If COVID-19 vaccines caused ADE, people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 would have more severe disease. This is not happening. On the contrary, people who are vaccinated typically have very mild disease or none at all. In fact, the majority of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are people who aren't fully vaccinated. In May, fully vaccinated people made up just 0.8% of COVID-19 deaths. That means 99.2% of COVID-19 deaths were in unvaccinated people.
The COVID-19 vaccines are safe. More than 155 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated. The COVID-19 vaccines protect you from severe disease and death. Get your vaccine today.
A note for concerned parents: Zero vaccines given today cause ADE. An older measles vaccine and a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine were removed from use after showing evidence of causing ADE. A dengue virus vaccine causing ADE was also discontinued for young children.

"

Are COVID-19 vaccines causing antibody-dependent enhancement?

May 25, 2021 by Health Desk – As of May 2021, there is no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines are leading to antibody-dependent enhancement.

health-desk.org

 

[Slickk]

Thank you @missy

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Yes
But no one is talking about it here yet
Still waiting to be vacinated.....
Becsuse the govt is doing a sh*t show of it

 

[missy]

Yes
But no one is talking about it here yet
Still waiting to be vacinated.....
Becsuse the govt is doing a sh*t show of it

Hoping you can get vaccinated soon Nicky. XO.

 

[oakleaf]

Not until the rest of the world gets their first dose.

 

[missy]

Not until the rest of the world gets their first dose.

Yes this is a wonderful idealistic viewpoint. But if whether or not you get the booster does not affect the rest of the world would you change your mind?


And should those who are immunocompromised not get the booster if it is offered to them til the entire world gets vaccinated? That really isn’t practical nor, IMO, ideal. For many reasons that do affect everyone.

 

[missy]

All viewpoints are welcome. There are no easy answers.

“A third shot is coming. U.S. regulators authorized giving an extra dose of Covid-19 vaccine to the most vulnerable people, but it’s a decision that comes with a price, as it could further exacerbate vaccine inequality across the world. Australia is facing its worst crisis since the pandemic began, while Austin, Texas, has warned residents the situation there is dire. Contrast that with the U.K., which is slowly emerging from the latest wave even after the government pushed ahead with an almost full reopening. Sam Fazeli explains in Bloomberg Opinion, the fast-spreading delta variant has increased infection risk among children, and the world apparently needs quicker—not more—antigen tests. “

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Yes
But no one is talking about it here yet
Still waiting to be vacinated.....
Becsuse the govt is doing a sh*t show of it

My husband took the AZ. Between us we decided to split the risk. I'm waiting for my Pfizer booking in September and Hubby had the AZ on Thursday!

 

[missy]

My husband took the AZ. Between us we decided to split the risk. I'm waiting for my Pfizer booking in September and Hubby for the AZ on Thursday!

Good luck @mellowyellowgirl!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Good luck @mellowyellowgirl!

If he makes it past 50 days we're good!!!! Hopefully!!!!!

They say the risk is with the first dose.

 

[missy]

If he makes it past 50 days we're good!!!! Hopefully!!!!!

They say the risk is with the first dose.

Fingers crossed. We are back to March 2020 precautions. Wearing masks indoors (not at home) and no socializing. Keeping a distance from people and no eating out. If we go indoors we leave fast and always wear a mask. I am assuming at this point we can all get Covid or a variant so we cannot be too careful. Even if we get a booster we will continue with these precautions til I know it is safe.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Fingers crossed. We are back to March 2020 precautions. Wearing masks indoors (not at home) and no socializing. Keeping a distance from people and no eating out. If we go indoors we leave fast and always wear a mask. I am assuming at this point we can all get Covid or a variant so we cannot be too careful. Even if we get a booster we will continue with these precautions til I know it is safe.

Funnily enough Missy his reason for taking AZ was because he did not want to lose his taste buds. Of all the things Covid could do, he was like lost taste buds might as well mean death for him and he'd rather take his chances with AZ.

 

[missy]

Funnily enough Missy his reason for taking AZ was because he did not want to lose his taste buds. Of all the things Covid could do, he was like lost taste buds might as well mean death for him and he'd rather take his chances with AZ.

I actually understand that concern. Losing one’s taste buds is very unpleasant and makes eating difficult. Glad he’s getting it no matter the reason and hoping it is protective for both of you.

 

[Lookinagain]

Yes I will get a booster when I can for the same reasons I got the vaccine in the first place.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Yes, it's been 6 months since my second dose and I'm a public school teacher. I get my flu shot annually and I expect this to be similar.

 

[diamondringlover]

oh yeah I will, I have started wearing masks again after Acardian's post...I hate them so anything to get away from those horrible things

 

[missy]

Yes, it's been 6 months since my second dose and I'm a public school teacher. I get my flu shot annually and I expect this to be similar.

I hope they put teachers first in line with immunocompromised individuals and health care providers.

oh yeah I will, I have started wearing masks again after Acardian's post...I hate them so anything to get away from those horrible things

I hate wearing them too. I sweat like crazy under them. No one else has this reaction that I can tell. My DH doesn't and he also doesn't get as hot as I do. It's crazy. But I suck it up and wear it no matter how uncomfortable I am in it. Especially now in the heat. It is challenging but I remind myself of the people who have no choice to wear it full time at work. At least I can control when I have to go to stores etc and wear it.

 

[Lookinagain]

I never quit wearing my masks when I went inside to stores. I knew many unvaccinated people were walking around without them. I knew the honor system wouldn’t work, unfortunately. So I just always put mine on.

 

[Austina]

Yes, we will get the booster, as by then it’ll be 6 months since we had our 2nd vax. Neither of us had any major reaction to the Pfizer vaccine other than sore arm at the site of the injection.

 

[Demon]

Yes, I had my first on 2/23 and my second on 3/23, so I will definitely get mine once the immunocompromised have gotten it. There has been only one day that I didn't wear my mask to the grocery store and it was over 100 out.

I am not looking forward to my reaction from the 3rd though. The reaction from the 2nd was bad enough.

 

[Karl_K]

I wonder about the usefulness of another shot of the current vaccines, I'm more interested in a enhanced booster tuned more towards the variants.
Will see how the timelines play out.

 

[missy]

I wonder about the usefulness of another shot of the current vaccines, I'm more interested in a enhanced booster tuned more towards the variants.
Will see how the timelines play out.

I am interested in that too though with so many variants it would be challenging to keep up with them all. So not sure how that would play out. Right now, early evidence suggests that a third dose of either Moderna or Pfizer would amp up antibodies that would be protective against Delta and the other variants. But time will tell as with all things.

What I would like to do is get my third dose as Pfizer. Not sure they will be allowing that when I get my booster but that would be my preference. For a stronger protection which preliminary studies show could be the case. Mixing the vaccines.

 

[Karl_K]

What I would like to do is get my third dose as Pfizer. Not sure they will be allowing that when I get my booster but that would be my preference. For a stronger protection which preliminary studies show could be the case. Mixing the vaccines.

Yes im interested in moderna as my first 2 were Pfizer if there isn't a variant specific one available..
Canada has been mixing them as well as other countries and so far it looks like its going ok.

 

[missy]

Yes im interested in moderna as my first 2 were Pfizer if there isn't a variant specific one available..
Canada has been mixing them as well as other countries and so far it looks like its going ok.

I am willing to risk it. Politics make things move so much more slowly at times.

WHO warns individuals against mixing and matching COVID vaccines

The World Health Organization's chief scientist has advised individualsagainst mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines from different manufacturers, saying such decisions should be left to public health authorities.

www.reuters.com

"
GENEVA, July 13 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization's chief scientist has advised individualsagainst mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines from different manufacturers, saying such decisions should be left to public health authorities.

"It's a little bit of a dangerous trend here," Soumya Swaminathan told an online briefing on Monday after a question about booster shots. "It will be a chaotic situation in countries if citizens start deciding when and who will be taking a second, a third and a fourth dose."

Swaminathan had called mixing a "data-free zone" but later clarified her remarks in an overnight tweet.

"Individuals should not decide for themselves, public health agencies can, based on available data," she said in the tweet. "Data from mix and match studies of different vaccines are awaited - immunogenicity and safety both need to be evaluated."



The WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on vaccines said in June the Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) vaccine could be used as a second dose after an initial dose of AstraZeneca (AZN.L), if the latter is not available.

A clinical trial led by the University of Oxford in the UK is ongoing to investigate mixing the regimen of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines. The trial was recently expanded to include the Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and Novavax Inc (NVAX.O) vaccines.

"

Mix-and-match COVID vaccines: the case is growing, but questions remain

A slew of studies suggests that mixing vaccines provokes potent immune responses, but scientists still want answers on real-world efficacy and rare side effects.

www.nature.com

"
Mixing COVID-19 vaccines is emerging as a good way to get people the protection they need when faced with safety concerns and unpredictable supplies. Most vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 must be given in two doses, but multiple studies now back up the idea that mixing the Oxford–AstraZeneca jab and the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine triggers an immune response similar to — or even stronger than — two doses of either vaccine.

Results announced on Monday 1 by a UK group suggest that the combination sometimes outperforms two shots of the same vaccine, and a similar picture is emerging from German studies2,3.




Mix-and-match COVID vaccines trigger potent immune response
People can now “feel a bit more comfortable” with the idea of mix-and-match, says immunologist Leif Erik Sander at Charité University Hospital in Berlin.

The results are also giving researchers confidence that combining other COVID-19 vaccines, that haven’t yet been tested together, might also work. But at least 16 vaccines have been approved for use in one or more countries, and mix-and-match studies so far have been small, so more extensive trials and long-term monitoring for side effects are sorely needed.

Immune system boost​

Mix-and-match studies were prompted, in large part, by concerns over the safety of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca in Cambridge, both in the United Kingdom. The jab has been associated with rare instances of a blood-clotting condition known as thrombosis with thrombocytopaenia — and in March, some European countries decided to halt its use in some groups of people. This left many people partially vaccinated, unless they switched to a different brand for their second dose.

In May, researchers at the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid announced results4 from the CombiVacS trial. The study found a strong immune response in people who were dosed with the vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company Pfizer, based in New York City, and biotechnology firm BioNTech in Mainz, Germany, 8–12 weeks after receiving a dose of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine.

There was no head-to-head comparison with people who received two doses of the same vaccine, but the authors found that in laboratory tests, those who received the combination produced 37 times more SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies and 4 times more SARS-CoV-2-specific immune cells, called T cells, than did people who had just one dose of the Oxford–AstraZeneca jab.

By the end of June, more results had emerged showing a similar effect.

Sander and his colleagues looked at 340 health-care workers who had received either two doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine, or an initial shot of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine followed by a dose of Pfizer–BioNTech. Both regimens triggered an immune response that included neutralizing antibodies and T cells2.

A third study, by researchers at Saarland University in Homburg, Germany, found3 that the mixed regimen was better at eliciting an immune response than were two Oxford–AstraZeneca shots. It was also as good as or better than two shots of Pfizer–BioNTech.




Six months of COVID vaccines: what 1.7 billion doses have taught scientists
And on 25 June, the team behind the UK trial — known as the Com-COV study — posted a preprint online1 showing that a good immune response resulted irrespective of the order in which the two vaccines were given.

However, the trials so far have been too small to test how effective combinations of vaccines are at preventing people from developing COVID-19. “As long as you don’t have any long-term or any follow-up studies with efficacy calculations, it’s hard to say” the level or duration of protection, says Martina Sester, an immunologist who led the Saarland study.

Another limitation of the work so far is that there’s no easy way to compare different combinations between studies. Large-scale efficacy studies are becoming more difficult, says Sester. That’s because, as infection rates decrease, the number of people in a study must increase to detect any difference in rates of infection and disease. Trials pitting mix-and-match vaccine sequences against a placebo control would also be unethical, she adds.

That’s one reason why efforts are under way to determine a ‘correlate of protection’ — a defined level of immune response that confers protection against infection and disease. “This is extremely urgent,” says Sander.

A nuanced picture​

But a nuanced picture is emerging of the magnitude and types of immune response that mixing vaccines produces. And these differences could be exploited to provide the best protection.

The Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine uses a harmless virus called an adenovirus to carry genetic material from SARS-CoV-2 into cells. Vaccines using this technology have a good track record of inducing strong T-cell responses, says Sander, whereas vaccines using messenger RNA, such as Pfizer’s, have proved “exceptionally good” at inducing high levels of antibodies.

Combining vaccines could help ease supply problems in remote locations, such as rural areas of India.Credit: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty
Sester says that high levels of antibodies after the second shot are an indicator that the combination approach works. “Neutralizing antibodies are probably a good surrogate for predicting efficacy,” she says, because they help to prevent viral infection. But T cells, especially ‘killer’ T cells that carry a protein called CD8, protect against severe disease by killing cells that have already been infected.




What scientists do and don’t know about the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID vaccine
In the Com-COV study, the highest antibody response was in people receiving the standard two shots of Pfizer–BioNTech, but the response was almost as high in the combination of Oxford–AstraZeneca followed by Pfizer–BioNTech. This combination also had the best T-cell response — more than twice as high as that from the two Pfizer–BioNTech doses.

Mixing an mRNA vaccine and an adenovirus-based one could therefore provide “the best of two worlds”, Sander explains.

Sester and her colleagues found subtle differences in T-cell populations depending on the vaccines given. She says that understanding these nuances could lead to individualized strategies. Combinations that provoke good T-cell responses might be better for people who have had organ transplants and are taking medication to suppress their immune systems, for instance, because their bodies will struggle to produce antibodies. “There are many ways of exploiting this knowledge in a strategic way,” she says.

Safety concerns remain​

No mix-and-match trials have yet reported severe side effects. In the Com-COV study, mixing vaccines elicited more side effects than did administering two doses of the same vaccine, according to preliminary data released in May5. But this wasn’t the case in the Charité and Saarland studies or CombiVacS, where side effects were no worse than for two shots of the same vaccine.

That’s probably due to the interval between doses, says Sester. Com-COV participants discussed in the latest paper received their second shot four weeks after the initial dose, whereas participants in the German studies had at least nine weeks between shots. Some Com-COV participants did receive doses at a longer interval; their data are anticipated in July.




WHO approval of Chinese CoronaVac COVID vaccine will be crucial to curbing pandemic
Some safety concerns remain, says Sander. “You’re combining two different vaccines, both of which might have their own profile of adverse events and effects,” he says, which could amplify any problems.

The studies so far have enrolled only a few hundred people. This means that they are too small to pick up rare events such as the clotting conditions, which according to current estimates occur in around one in 50,000 people after the first Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine dose and in less than one in 1.7 million after the second. The condition has also been associated with an adenovirus vaccine produced by pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

In small studies, “you do not pick up your one-in-1,000 side effect, let alone your one-in-50,000 side effect”, said Matthew Snape, an Oxford vaccine researcher who is leading the Com-COV study, at a press conference on 28 June.

Seven COVID-19 vaccines have been approved in the Philippines, where a trial will test China’s CoronaVac in combination with the others.Credit: Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty

The new norm?​

The lingering possibility of rare side effects is one reason some researchers recommend that people stick to the standard two shots of a single vaccine for now. “To my mind, you are better defaulting to the ones where we know that they work and there’s a known quantity when it comes to their safety,” says Snape.

But as new variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerge, the results of mix-and-match trials could provide policymakers with the data they need to switch to more protective combinations. “It’s good to have that data in readiness,” says Fiona Russell, a vaccine researcher at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia.

Mix-and-match vaccines could also be used to prevent roll-outs stalling because of supply issues. “If there’s a global shortage of one particular vaccine, then rather than stopping the vaccination programme, it can continue,” says Russell.



“If it’s an option of either getting a mixed schedule or no second dose, then certainly go for the mixed schedule,” says Snape.

The Com-COV study has already begun testing other vaccines in people who have received an initial Oxford–AstraZeneca or Pfizer–BioNTech shot. One combination includes the yet-to-be-approved protein-based vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company Novavax in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Another uses the mRNA vaccine from Moderna in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which has been approved for use in several countries.

In the Philippines, a study combining the inactivated-virus vaccine CoronaVac, developed by the company Sinovac in Beijing, with the six other vaccines approved in the country will run until November 2022. And a study by AstraZeneca and the Gamaleya Research Institute in Moscow will test combinations of the Oxford–AstraZeneca jab and Gamaleya’s adenovirus-based Sputnik V shot.
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