More than half of American adults are fully vaccinated. People are venturing out in public unmasked, hopping on planes, going on dates, and reconnecting with family and friends face to face.
But, in this new phase of the pandemic in the US, our vaccine protection is not yet iron clad. Experts are already watching for signals that could portend a surge of COVID-19 cases this fall or winter, especially in areas of the country with low vaccine coverage. We are nowhere near declaring victory, said Dr. Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic s Vaccine Research Group.
Interviews with six infectious-disease experts suggest the future of the COVID-19 crisis boils down to three big unknowns about our vaccines. First: how long does vaccine protection last? Second: will the hunt for even better vaccines be a success? And third: when will everyone have access to COVID-19 vaccines?
The layoffs come after the CDC on May 13 recommended that fully vaccinated individuals would no longer need to wear masks in most indoor and outdoor settings.
LETTER | Time to delay that second dose
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LETTER | For the past week, Malaysia has recorded an average of 51 Covid-19 deaths per day. If this isn’t a call for a change of strategy, I don’t know what is.
For the past two weeks, a lot of netizens have been calling for a “full lockdown”, like MCO 1.0. In view of a fear of the collapse of the economy, the government could not afford to do it. So, the government announced “stricter” SOPs, such as shortening business hours (up till 8pm), reverting to online distance learning, etc. The Ministry of Health has advised the public to “self-lockdown” to combat the rising cases and deaths of Covid-19.
Faced with a limited supply of shots and anxious populations waiting their turn, more countries are turning to an initially controversial strategy that’s now been vindicated by scientific studies: doubling or tripling the intervals between the first and second Covid vaccine dose. A delay in getting the second shot not only allows the existing supply of shots to be more widely distributed, it boosts their protective power by giving the immune system more time to respond to the first inoculation. Levels of antibodies produced to fight off the virus are 20% to 300% higher when the follow-up vaccine comes later, new research shows.
May 21, 2021
Faced with a limited supply of shots and anxious populations waiting their turn, more countries are turning to an initially controversial strategy that’s now been vindicated by scientific studies: doubling or tripling the intervals between the first and second dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
A delay in getting the second shot not only allows the existing supply of shots to be more widely distributed, it boosts their protective power by giving the immune system more time to respond to the first inoculation. Levels of antibodies produced to fight off the virus are 20% to 300% higher when the follow-up vaccine comes later, new research shows.