Antibody testing should not be used as a gauge to determine if you need a COVID vaccine booster, one expert says.
became available was real. At the time, data were showing 99% protection against illness, hospitalization, and death. That was before we understood what would that look like 6 to 8 months later. Just add up the issue of variants as well as the number of people not protected. Then look at the people with evidence of protection, and we don’t know how long and how well it will last. ThisWebMD: When it comes to the booster, some people are getting antibody testing to help decide if they need one.
Also, if this was typical vaccine, we would have spent 5 to 6 years studying and looking at long-termWe couldn’t do this because we were in a pandemic, so once we established the safety of the vaccines, we were in a situation where our goal was to study how to best use them, including what the doses should be and how many doses a person should receive.
We’re all learning that and trying to understand this. And this is important: This isn’t indecision or incomplete information. We’re learning. It’s an evolving science. The thing I’m learning is to have an even bigger dose of humility about this virus.Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota.
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