Baby booster shots

The COVID-19 vaccine could become an annual injection, like the flu shot, according to the head of a pharmaceutical giant and the chief science officer of the U.S. pandemic response. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during a pre-recorded conversation hosted by CVS Heath Corporation that “The Covid virus looks more like the influenza virus than the polio virus.” The polio shot is generally a childhood inoculation, while the flu shot is administered every year. More research is needed, Bourla said, but the “likely scenario” will be a third dose of the current shots “somewhere between six and 12 months, and from there it would be an annual re-vaccination.” Similarly, David Kessler, working with the White House COVID response, told lawmakers Thursday at a House subcommittee hearing the U.S. should plan for COVID booster shots. Kessler said the Biden administration is still “studying the durability of the antibody response,” following vaccinations, but “I think we should expect that we … [Read more...] about COVID Vaccine Will Likely Be Annual Shot

The calm before the second-dose storm. Photo: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag When the actress Sarah Wynter got her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, she didn’t experience any side effects apart from a little soreness in her arm. Dose two was a different story. About 12 hours after she received it, as she was about to go to bed, “it hit me like a freight train,” she says. “I just started feeling very achy, very tired and heavy.” She woke up the next morning experiencing what felt like the worst hangover of her life. After some Tylenol and coffee, she felt almost better by late morning and was well enough to host a small birthday party for her 10-year-old twins. Then, at bedtime, it was round two, this time including violent chills. A night’s rest helped, but the following day she still felt under the weather. Wynter’s experiences may not have been exactly typical, but they weren’t unusual, either: The second dose of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines … [Read more...] about Why the Second COVID Shot Makes You Miserable

ACROSS AMERICA — Recent developments with the COVID-19 vaccines may mean Americans could receive more shots than they may have expected in the fight against the coronavirus. States have temporarily paused giving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine after six women reported a rare blood clotting issue within two weeks of receiving their shots. One of the women, all between the ages of 18-48, died. That pause came at the urging of the federal Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said it gives researchers time to determine if the issue is directly related to the vaccine or coincidental. Also, both Pfizer and Moderna said this week annual booster shots will likely be needed to increase the effectiveness of their vaccines. The news comes as the country approaches President Joe Biden's goal of administering 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines within the first 100 days of his presidency, which concludes at the end of April 29. … [Read more...] about COVID-19 Vaccines: 5 New Things To Know

Dr. Mathew Burrows, who spent 28 years at the CIA and State Department, serves as director of the Foresight, Strategy, and Risks Initiative and co-director of the New American Engagement Initiative at the Atlantic Council. Barry Pavel is an Atlantic Council senior vice president and director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He served for almost 18 years in a wide range of senior positions in the Defense Department. He was the special assistant to the president and senior director for defense policy and strategy on the National Security Council during the Bush and Obama administrations. The views expressed in this commentary belong to the authors. View more opinion at CNN. (CNN) The vaccine rollout has given many Americans hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight and that we can finally pull the curtain down on our collective trauma. But even with the expanded distribution of the Covid-19 vaccines, it is increasingly apparent there will be no graceful … [Read more...] about There will be no graceful exit from the Covid-19 pandemic