Officials awaiting word on booster vaccines

Pfizer is seeking clearance to offer a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine to those already vaccinated, but the Food and Drug Administration is not responding with a green light. Pfizer officials say another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant.

An Associated Press article stated, research from multiple countries shows the Pfizer shot and other widely-used COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against the highly-contagious Delta variant, which is spreading rapidly around the world and now accounts for most new U.S. infections.

Springfield and Columbia, Missouri, reportedly are hot spots for the Delta variant of COVID, and the Butler County Health Department reported this week one person tested positive with the COVID variant. The report stated, 300 people were tested for the Delta variant in Southeast Missouri, with 23 positive cases.

Butler County Health Department Administrator Emily Goodin suggests everyone become vaccinated.

Goodin said, “It is my understanding that paperwork has been filed. However, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices indicated until they see the data of breakthrough cases following vaccination, they were not going to recommend a booster at this time.”

The ACIP develops recommendations on how to use vaccines to control disease in the United States. The Committee’s recommendations are forwarded to CDC’s director for approval. Once the ACIP recommendations have been reviewed and approved by the CDC director and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, they are published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The MMWR publication represents the final and official CDC recommendations for immunization of the U.S. population.

Authorities explain, two doses of most vaccines are critical to develop high levels of virus-fighting antibodies against all versions of the coronavirus, not just the Delta variant — and most of the world still is desperate to get those initial protective doses as the pandemic continues to rage.

But antibodies naturally wane over time, so studies also are underway to tell if, and when, boosters might be needed.

Goodin explained, the Delta variant “is also impacting young people in a way previous variants have not. Fortunately, we know how to deal with this. We have safe and effective vaccines that work against this variant. People who are fully vaccinated are protected from the Delta variant. That is why it is more important than ever people get vaccinated. Particularly, we want to make sure young people are getting vaccinated as this variant also impacts young people in a way the previous variants have not.”

As other parts of Missouri see surges in COVID-19 cases, confirmed diagnoses in Southeast Missouri remain relatively low.

Goodin said, “We encourage people who are unvaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to mask up until you do. Every time an individual becomes infected, there is a chance that the virus can mutate. It gets to the point where vaccines no longer work. Then, those who are already vaccinated have to go through the whole vaccination process again.”

FDA authorization would be just a first step — it wouldn’t automatically mean Americans get offered boosters, cautioned Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Speaking with the AP, Schaffner said, public health authorities would have to decide if they’re really needed, especially since millions of people have no protection.

Pfizer’s Dr. Mikael Dolsten told The Associated Press that early data from the company’s booster study suggests people’s antibody levels jump five- to 10-fold after a third dose, compared to their second dose months earlier. Why might that matter for fighting the Delta variant? Dolsten pointed to data from Britain and Israel showing the Pfizer vaccine “neutralizes the Delta variant very well.”

The assumption, he said, is that when antibodies drop low enough, the Delta virus eventually could cause a mild infection before the immune system kicks back in.

Presently, the FDA and the CDC said, in a joint statement, said Americans who have been fully vaccinated do not need a booster COVID-19 shot at this time. The agencies added people who are fully vaccinated are protected from severe illness and death, including from emerging variants.

Federal officials landed in Missouri at the request of the state to assist with combatting a wave of new COVID cases spurred by the Delta variant. Earlier this week, a member of the newly-created federal surge response team arrived in the Springfield area to provide epidemiological support, Lisa Cox, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Senior Services, confirmed Wednesday.

The Springfield area has seen an eruption of new COVID cases and hospitalizations, driven by the Delta variant’s spread. Greene County went from 774 cases in May to 2,524 recorded cases in June, according to state data.

Missouri ranks 40th of the 50 states and District of Columbia in vaccine delivery per capita, according to the CDC. Statewide, nearly 45 percent of residents have received at least one dose, with some counties with local rates as high as 54 percent and others remaining under 20 percent.

Health officials believe the rapid rise in new cases has been driven largely by the Delta variant’s spread coupled with low vaccination rates. First detected in rural corners of the state, the variant that was first reported in India has now firmly taken hold in Missouri and has been found in wastewater in the state’s largest metro areas.