Moderna CEO claims people need fourth dose as efficacy of boosters decline

After receiving their booster shots, people will have to require another shot to be safe amid the rising surge of Omicron cases around the world, the CEO of Moderna, Stephane Bancel suggests. Just last month, the CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla stated that people will certainly need the fourth dose soon and now Stephane Bancel is claiming the same, as per the reports of CNBC.

Bancel stated that Moderna is working on the booster shot for the Omicron variant of COVID-19. However, he also said that it is unlikely to be ready in the next two months and that he believes that people will need another booster in the second half of 2022 and beyond, during the interview with the Goldman Sachs healthcare conference. He further said that those who are older, work in high-risk jobs, or have underlying health problems may require boosters every year. He claims that the efficacy of boosters is expected to wane over time, which makes the fourth shot important.

The fourth dose of the vaccination increases antibodies five-fold

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated on Tuesday that a recent study found that a fourth dose of the vaccination increases antibodies five-fold, according to New York Post. Booster shots are becoming more crucial in public health initiatives to combat the virus, as Omicron has significantly reduced the effectiveness of the first two vaccinations.

The two-dose vaccinations developed by Moderna and Pfizer are only approximately 10% effective at avoiding symptomatic illness. Research released by the United Kingdom's Health Security Agency suggests that booster doses are up to 75% effective at preventing symptomatic infection two weeks after receiving the shot. According to CNBC, the effectiveness of booster shots begins to wane after four weeks. At weeks five to nine after receiving the shot, boosters were shown to be 55% to 70% effective in preventing infection, and 40% to 50% effective at week ten.

WHO has slammed the use of boosters

WHO, in the meanwhile, has slammed the use of boosters saying that because of the use of booster shots in wealthy countries, poor countries are struggling to get the vaccines. The experts believe that Omicron is more transmissible than the previous variants, but it is also less severe.

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