4 ms·
I agree with most all of that, and that it was largely unsurprising. When the mRNA shots were developed there was a tradeoff to be made (and BNT/Mod chose sligh
by kurthr 5y ago
I agree with most all of that, and that it was largely unsurprising. When the mRNA shots were developed there was a tradeoff to be made (and BNT/Mod chose slightly different paths) on both amount of RNA and dosing schedule to minimize side effects while rapidly providing strong immunity (we're also lucky JJ and they all chose a stabilized prefusion Spike unlike ChAdOx etc). Boosters for T and B response in particular are common, but orders of magnitude higher antibodies are quite likely to help minimize Omicron effects (especially for first responders who received early Pfizer doses) and do appear to cause significant reductions in infection/symptomatic cases.[1] I would not have slowed down the testing or EUA, although manufacture was an issue early on. We didn't know when/if a significantly immune evading variant would arrive, and I feel fairly lucky with when Omicron arrived (after many of the most susceptible could be vaccinated). If it had arrived 8 months earlier, it would have been catastrophic.
I also feel that the WHO choices have not been very good. From down playing human transmission early in the pandemic to demanding that there not be boosters in order to speed up the multi-year process of vaccinating 4billion people by 40million doses, when Omicron was already spreading quickly. Honestly, prioritization in the developing world is more important. They seem more political than other sources.
[1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2788105 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2788105