It is no secret that part of the immune response decreases over time after two corona vaccinations. But do we need booster vaccinations soon, as vaccine manufacturers are now advising? Science has its own opinion on this.
Berlin – Will booster vaccinations soon be necessary in the corona pandemic? The assessment of the vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Biontech that a third dose is necessary soon met with mixed feedback on Friday. “At the moment it is too early to confirm whether and when a booster dose will be necessary for corona vaccines,” replied the European Medicines Agency Ema when asked by the German Press Agency. Researchers and politicians in Germany still lack sufficient data for booster vaccinations. So far it has been discussed for the very old and the immunocompromised as particularly at risk groups – but not yet for everyone.
That’s what the manufacturer says
The vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Biontech had jointly announced on Friday morning, German time, that they expected a decrease in the protective effect of their coronavirus vaccine six months after the second vaccination. The basis is, among other things, data collected from practical application by the Israeli Ministry of Health. On this basis, it is likely that “a third dose will be required within six to twelve months of full vaccination”.
In their ongoing study on a booster vaccination, “encouraging data” can be observed. With 10,000 participants, half of whom received the vaccine and the other half a placebo, the number of antibodies in those vaccinated was five to ten times higher than after the first two vaccinations.
Reticent experts
For the Erlangen-based infection immunologist Christian Bogdan, however, there is currently insufficient scientific evidence to state that a third vaccination could be necessary within six to twelve months after the primary vaccination has been completed. For example, it is completely normal that the serum levels of antibodies against the target antigen of the vaccination decrease with increasing time after a complete primary immunization, he told the German press agency. “A loss of the clinical protective effect cannot automatically be deduced from this.”
For Leif Erik Sander, infection immunologist at the Berlin Charité, booster vaccinations are not yet a panacea. “We should focus on getting our vaccination rates up,” he said. This could provide protection that would not make boosters necessary in a timely manner – apart from population groups with a very high risk of infection. For everyone else, one can probably wait and see how many breakthrough infections there really are after two vaccinations and how tolerable that is. “It’s a political decision.”
US health officials made it clear shortly after the Pfizer and Biontech statement that Americans who were fully vaccinated currently do not need a booster vaccination. The authorities investigated this question, but did not rely solely on data from pharmaceutical companies.
Politicians are planning that
According to the federal government, the federal and state governments are preparing for booster vaccinations against Corona. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) have already spoken about this topic, said government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Friday. But even the Federal Ministry of Health does not yet have sufficient data to recommend a third vaccination. In all likelihood, however, boosters would be necessary. “We are now waiting for the data to be submitted, and the Standing Vaccination Commission will make a recommendation accordingly,” it said. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) had previously made it clear in principle that mobile teams should go back to the particularly endangered nursing home residents as the first to receive booster vaccinations.
The economic component
For Pfizer and Biontech, their corona vaccine is a billion dollar business. In the first quarter of 2021, Biontech’s sales reached around 2.05 billion euros – more than 70 times as much as in the same period of the previous year (27.7 million). The Mainz-based company explained in May that the increase was mainly due to the rapid increase in the global supply of the corona vaccine.
Now, however, simply to say that the advance by Biontech and Pfizer is nonsense and the pharmaceutical industry just wants to print money, that falls short, said Charité researcher Sander. For scientists, all empirical values with the different corona vaccines are initially valuable.
Approval necessary?
Using boosters in practice would probably not be a big problem. According to the Paul Ehrlich Institute, the Standing Vaccination Commission can suggest a third vaccination with an approved vaccine without any explicit change. The prerequisite are corresponding data on the decrease in vaccination effectiveness or a generally poorer effectiveness in certain groups. Vaccines that would be tailored to new variants beyond the previous approvals would still have to get the green light from the Ema. According to immunologist Christian Bogdan, the vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer has so far also worked well against the Delta virus variant. dpa
