Think back to late June 2021, when there was containment of the American COVID-19 pandemic with fewer than 12,000 new cases a day and a total of 15,000 patients in the hospital. There was a declaration of independence from the virus on July 4, just as the Delta variant was starting its exponential growth. A major surge ensued, which was followed by yet another one with the Omicron variant, peaking with nearly 160,000 people hospitalized and almost 2,700 deaths per day the most deaths since vaccinations became widely available.
Even now, as we are descending from the Omicron wave, we still have more than 60,000 patients in the hospital and more than 2,000 deaths per day.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is still with us and is adroit at finding new ways to infect us at scale. As it evolved from the original strain in late 2019, and progressed to the Alpha and Delta variants, it became more virulent and infectious, not less. There is a misconception that the virus is destined to evolve to a more benign form. If weve learned anything from the pandemic, its that the virus has an extraordinary ability to adapt and it is unpredictable.
You can just look at the more than 50 new mutations present in Omicron to know there are seemingly infinite ways for it to further mutate and rearrange the 30,000 base pairs in its genome. Although wed be fortunate for it to morph into a common cold coronavirus cousin, we certainly cant count on that. There are just too many vulnerable hosts out there for more evolution of the virus to take place, including a wide variety of animals, with potential to spill over to humans.
There are more than 7 million Americans who are immunocompromised, who are not only highly vulnerable to infections, but also may provide an opportunity for the virus to evolve inside a person and then infect others. That path may indeed be the way Omicron was created and spread.
Around the world, there are billions of people unvaccinated and likely without any protection from prior infection. In the U.S., there are more than 19 million children under the age 5 for whom there is no vaccine approved, and tens of millions of people have not been vaccinated. We currently rank 67th in the world for being fully vaccinated and 54th for having its population get an all-important booster shot that preserves a high level of protection against hospitalizations and deaths. When the virus is not contained, as is the case in the world now, its spread creates the potential for new variants.
In these new hosts, the virus could possibly evolve to a new, more deleterious version that attaches better and infects other organs, like the heart or gastrointestinal tract, instead of the lungs. We have already seen people with simultaneous co-infections of two different variants, which enables the swapping of RNA between them and generating a hybrid, potentially worse version of the virus. That swap could also be between an animal and human source, akin to human and bird flu recombination.
The result would be much more difficult for humans to recognize, overriding protection from our spike-protein vaccines or infection-induced immunity. While unlikely, full immune escape by a new variant would put us back to square one of the pandemic.
Even if these scenarios dont materialize, lets remember that Omicron, despite being characterized as a milder form of the virus, can still be deadly for people without immunity. The original Omicron known as BA.1 has sister variants, including BA.2 and BA.3, each with many new and different mutations. A recent study in a lab using an animal model suggested that BA.2 is more disease-causing and more immune-evasive than BA.1.
BA.2 has spread rapidly in some countries such as Denmark, South Africa, India and Sweden. However, all the data to date for BA.2 in people do not support any sign of worse disease or lack of protection from vaccines. BA.2 is not gaining legs in the U.S., but the explanations for this and for the rapid decline of Omicron in many countries remain elusive. At this moment, it does not look like BA.2 poses a threat as a major new variant, but it would not be surprising if we see another variant in future months that deserves a separate Greek letter designation.
The good news is that were probably moving to a relatively quiescent phase, with low numbers of cases and limited severe disease, representing containment of the virus. That is not the same as the pandemic being over. Unfortunately, when states or countries proclaim that we just need to live with the virus and end all restrictions, many people interpret that message as meaning the pandemic is actually over for good. That would be a fantasy given the myriad opportunities for the virus to haunt us in the months and years ahead.
We have been extraordinarily lucky to date getting such highly effective vaccines into the arms of billions of people in a time frame that would never have been considered possible before. These vaccines, with boosters, have held up solidly, protecting vaccinated people against severe disease even though they are directed toward the original strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Lets hope our luck does not run out. Getting prepared for worst-case scenarios is our best defense, with better genomic, wastewater and digital tracking of the virus, and bolstering protection with everything from better air filtration to accelerating efforts for a variant-proof, pan-coronavirus vaccine. Better to be smart against this formidable virus than lucky.
Eric J. Topol is a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research and author of the newsletter Ground Truths.
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Will U.S. residents need a fourth shot of a COVID-19 vaccine?
With a surge of the omicron variant of the coronavirus subsiding around the country, questions continue to swirl about the future of the pandemic in the United States.
While cases and hospitalizations are down, deaths remain high, exceeding past pandemic peaks.
FAUCI SAYS FUTURE REQUIREMENT FOR ADDITIONAL COVID-19 BOOSTERS BEING MONITORED
White House and public health leaders have said that they are cautiously optimistic about current trends and planning for a return to normal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently considering revising its guidance on masking.
To date, data from the agency shows 92.6 million Americans have received a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine and 214.6 million are fully vaccinated.
While the Biden administration has called on the U.S. to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations, health experts continue to worry about impending variants of concern and that booster rates are too low given that the vaccination's efficacy wanes over time about after four months.
Children 12-15 years old receive a Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine booster at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut on January 6, 2022. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
The CDC says COVID-19 vaccine booster shots provide 90% protection against hospitalization.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci told PBS last week that while there is "substantial waning" for symptomatically recognizable disease, for severe disease at four to five months there is still about a 78% overall protection rate against hospitalization.
He said that number is "pretty good," which is why the CDC is instructing those who are immune-comprised to get their fourth shot now but that those who are in the general population of immunocompetent people are "pretty good" as the CDC works to follow the durability of that protection.
MASK MANDATES TO BE LIFTED IN NEW MEXICO, WASHINGTON
"If it goes down over the next couple of months, then they will modify the recommendation of when and who should get now the fourth shot. But, in general, for the population level, 78% is pretty good. It likely will go down sometime. We don't know for sure. We're hoping it'll hold tight up there," he said. "But, if it does go down, I think you can expect some modification of the recommendation."
Speaking at the White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing, the president's chief medical adviser said that the potential future requirement for "an additional boost or a fourth shot for mRNA or a third shot for J&J is being very carefully monitored in real time."
"And, recommendations, if needed, will be updated according to the data as it evolves," he pledged.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s Dr. Peter Marks told The New York Times that scientists "simply dont have enough data to know that its a good thing to do."
The best time for an additional shot could come in the fall, he explained to the publication on Thursday.
"Barring any surprises from new variants, maybe the best thing is to think about our booster strategy in conjunction with the influenza vaccine next fall, and get as many people as possible boosted then," he said.
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Currently, the CDC recommends booster shots for everyone 12 years and older, five months after getting two doses of the mRNA vaccines or two months after a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Vaccines remain the best way to protect against COVID-19 and everyone five years and older is now eligible to receive a vaccine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This weeks promise of $100 for people getting vaccinated against COVID-19 hasnt brought big crowds to Philadelphias clinics, at least not yet.
The first clinic where people could collect the gift, the Salvation Army at 55th and Market Streets Friday afternoon, drew only about a dozen takers in its first two hours.
Its the first day of it, said Matt Rankin, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, who hoped news coverage would increase interest in the cash offer.
People are eligible for the $100 gift after receiving two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines at one of the participating city health clinics. Someone who has already had one dose could get their second and receive the money within days.
Citywide, about 74% of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated. In that same age group, 90% have received at least one dose, meaning there are plenty of people who may be particularly open to a cash incentive to finish their vaccinations, Rankin said.
That was the case for Keith Walker, 39, who got his first Pfizer dose about a month ago. Hed intended to get his second dose eventually, he said, but the money motivated him.
It actually gave me a little boost to come out and get it, he said.
He is out of work, he said, and expected to use the money for necessities.
READ MORE: Philly ends its vaccine mandate for indoor dining, citing declining cases and need to ease burden on businesses
Full vaccination is overwhelmingly effective at preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19 infections. Unvaccinated adults are 16 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than those who are fully vaccinated, the CDC reported. Recent studies have also shown that those who develop a breakthrough case after being vaccinated also have a lower risk of developing long COVID symptoms.
A $200,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is funding the cash incentives, enough to lure 20,000 people, Rankin said. The grant does not allow the money to be used for people receiving booster shots, and city workers are not eligible. Right now there are 10 locations scheduled for the shots-plus-incentive, but that list could grow, Rankin said. The sites and dates are listed on the city health departments website.
The next is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Global Leadership Academy, at 4601 W. Girard Ave.
People can receive their money in days by downloading an app administered by a contractor, Usio, a San Antonio, Texas, company. Or they can provide an address and have the money mailed within two weeks.
A woman at the clinic Friday, Tasha Mack, was there to get a booster shot, and was disappointed to learn she couldnt get the bonus. She got her third dose anyway.
I start a new job on Monday, she said. I thought, Good, I can use that to get money to put gas in the car.
A sweepstakes offer of up to $50,000 for people who got vaccinated in summer 2021 only briefly bumped up the pace of vaccinations in Philadelphia. Rankin acknowledged it has become harder to persuade holdouts to take the shot.
READ MORE: Dangling the chance to win cash prizes does not boost COVID-19 vaccination rates, Penn study finds
We know there is a population of people who are just not going to get it, he said. Then there are people on the fringe, in the gray area, who, maybe they need $100, that might get them to do it.
The city had been planning to have a cash incentive for vaccination since last fall, Rankin said, but managing the logistical and legal questions delayed the initiative. Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole announced the offer Wednesday as she introduced a new COVID safety strategy for the city that ended the vaccine mandate for indoor dining.
The indoor mask mandate in the city could also end in a matter of weeks, if current COVID-19 trends continue.
It was coincidence that the start of the money offer and the end of the vaccine mandate were announced at the same time, Rankin said, but he acknowledged that mandates have helped boost vaccination rates. The health department saw vaccinations increase after policies required health-care workers and city employees to be vaccinated, he said.
The vaccination requirement for indoor dining was one of the reasons Walker, of Northeast Philadelphia, got his first shot, he said.
Philadelphians have complicated reasons behind their vaccination decisions. Charles Smith, 47, works long hours in food service, and has had trouble finding a place where he could get a shot without an appointment after work.
He caught COVID-19 at the beginning of the year, and, though he recovered, he became very ill. He is also looking for a new job and was concerned being unvaccinated would make him unemployable at some places. Both his infection and job hunt encouraged him to get his first shot. He took Friday off from work to get his car registered, and though news coverage of the money offer informed him of the clinic, the cash wasnt the reason he came.
I wanted to do it anyway, he said. It was one of those days you wake up and say, let me get everything done today.
High school junior Nicolas Montero stays busy. He runs track, works night and weekend shifts at Burger King, and keeps on top of his schoolwork at Neshaminy High School in Bucks County.
But Nicolas' packed schedule is also strategic: It's a way to stay out of the house.
Nicolas and his parents are separated by a widening political and cultural rift: His parents are a part of a small but vocal minority who oppose COVID-19 vaccinations and have refused to let him get the shots.
"The thing about these beliefs is that they alternate by the day," said Nicolas, who is 16. "It's not one solid thing that they're going with, so it's just really baseless. It's like one thing they see on Facebook, and then they completely believe it."
The impasse eventually led to an act of quiet defiance: Nicolas traveled to Philadelphia, where a little-known regulation permits children 11 and older to be vaccinated without parental consent.
Not all states require parental consent for vaccination. In Oregon, teens 15 and up can consent to their own medical care, including inoculations. Rhode Island and South Carolina allow 16-year-olds to get COVID-19 vaccinations on their own. In Delaware, you need to be only 12 to get vaccines related to sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
That's the case as well in California, for those 12 or older who would like to get vaccines for STIs. But now California state lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow those minors to consent to all Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccines, including the COVID vaccines.
In Alabama, the law tightened during the pandemic. Though the age of consent for all other medical care is 14, a new law says Alabama youths under 19 need parental consent for COVID vaccines.
A November 2021 KFF poll found that 30% of parents with 12- to 17-year-olds said they will definitely not get their children vaccinated. In light of this, two National Institutes of Health scholars wrote a piece in The New England Journal of Medicine advocating for states to expand their statutes to include COVID vaccines as a medical treatment to which minors can consent.
Nicolas said he thinks most of his parents' beliefs about the vaccine come from social media.
"I try to explain to them that the vaccines are safe. They're effective," Nicolas said. "I try to explain that we know people that have been vaccinated, even our own family members who've been vaccinated for months and experienced no side effects. But nothing seems to get through to them."
Nicolas' parents did not respond to multiple attempts by WHYY News to speak to them for this article.
Though he found a way to change his own situation, Nicolas worried about teens who can't travel to a place where the laws are different. "I know that this is something that teenagers all across the country are experiencing right now," Nicolas said.
So he penned an op-ed in his high school paper, The Playwickian, advocating for the age of consent for vaccines in Pennsylvania to be lowered to 14.
Last summer, after school let out, he didn't need to be in the suburbs to go to class, so he asked his aunts if he could visit them in Philadelphia.
"He gets to roam the city, get the city life. He loves that," said Nicolas' aunt Brittany Kissling, who lives in Philly's Port Richmond neighborhood. "The kid did not want to leave."
A week turned into the entire summer.
While Nicolas was staying in Philadelphia, bouncing between his two aunts' houses, his friends were getting their first COVID shots. He was worried he might get sick. Worse, he was concerned he might transmit a coronavirus infection to his elderly grandmother.
"My abuela, she's completely vaccinated, boosted and everything," said Nicolas. But he said he was still worried he could transmit a breakthrough infection.
So he started doing some research. And he found the handful of states that allow teens to get vaccines without parental consent.
To his surprise, Nicolas discovered that a bill to change the law in Pennsylvania had been introduced in the state House of Representatives. If the measure were to become law, it would mean that anyone 14 and older could give informed consent to be vaccinated for any vaccine recommended by the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
As his research deepened, he learned that not only was it possible for minors to get vaccinated without parental consent in other states, it was legal in Philadelphia.
In 2007, the city's Board of Health passed a regulation that allows any minor who's at least 11 to get vaccinated without a parent, provided the young person can give informed consent.
Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said the regulation is designed to remove any additional barriers to vaccination.
"It can be very difficult, especially for lower-income parents, to get time off work to go to those appointments," Bettigole said. "These are low-risk interventions. It just makes it easier for parents and families to be able to make sure their kids are vaccinated."
The regulation took effect the year after the FDA approved a three-shot regimen of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for young people, recommended in the years before they become sexually active.
It is common for states and municipalities to create specific legislation for minors with the aim of increasing access to vaccines that prevent sexually transmitted infections, said Brian Dean Abramson, an author and adjunct professor of vaccine law at Florida International University College of Law.
"The rationale behind this was that you may have children who are being abused and don't want their parents necessarily to be informed of the fact they're seeking medical interventions for that, or children who may be sexually active and are afraid that their parents will react very negatively to that if they seek some kind of medical treatment," Abramson said.
In turn, said Abramson, those policies have laid the groundwork for children to get vaccinated in the event of a disagreement like the one between Nicolas and his parents.
Nicolas was thrilled to learn of Philadelphia's regulation. One summer afternoon while his aunt was at work, Nicolas found a Philadelphia pop-up clinic offering vaccines. He was anxious on his bus ride there not about needles or side effects, but that his parents would somehow catch him and prevent him from getting his second shot.
He knew his aunts would support his being vaccinated both of them had been, and Kissling manages a pediatrics office. But he was worried that if his aunts knew, word would get back to his parents. So, he didn't tell them ahead of time.
He returned to Bucks County for the start of the school year and arranged for a weekend visit in early September to see his aunts and grandmother again. He planned the trip just in time for his second dose.
"I did feel really liberated when I got my second shot," Nicolas said. "I felt like I was protected."
After that second shot, Nicolas told his aunts he had gotten vaccinated; they were amazed.
"He was so proud," recalled Kissling. "He had his card, and we were like, 'Wait, when did this happen? How did this happen?'"
Just before Thanksgiving, Nicolas' parents found out. They reacted the way Nicolas and his aunts worried they would: Kissling said Nicolas' mother accused her sisters of influencing him and of being neglectful enough to allow him to get vaccinated. The tension has grown to the point where Nicolas says he can't even speak to his parents.
Kissling said her family rarely discussed politics until recently. Now, she said, it's hard for the whole family to spend time together. She has left in the middle of dinners to drive home to Philadelphia because the discussion got so heated. She's not expecting a resolution anytime soon her family is one that's more likely to sweep conflict under the rug than resolve it, she said.
"Now, there's a divide," said Kissling. "It's sad because, at the end of the day, family should be family."
To cope with the tension at home, Nicolas has doubled down on his extracurriculars: He's learning to pole-vault for the track team. He joined the school paper, on top of taking part in environmental and language clubs.
Each evening after school, he lays claim to one of the private rooms at the public library, where he spreads out his books across a small desk and diligently does his homework. Recently, he was working on a paper about the history of U.S. involvement in Puerto Rico, where his grandmother is from. He was thumbing through a thick book on the Puerto Rican independence movement, marked with dozens of sticky notes every few pages.
"When I started reading this book, like almost every single page, my mouth is just wide open," Nicolas said. "Like, I couldn't believe that these things happened to my people."
He hopes to visit the island one day, and his grandmother is teaching him to cook Puerto Rican dishes in the meantime. They can now spend time together without him worrying as much that he might infect her.
Nicolas has ambitions to go to college in Washington, D.C. From there, he said, he wants to go to law school.
Kissling said she's inspired by her nephew's independence. But she knows he's still a kid who needs support and guidance. That's why she tries to stay in touch with him every day: texting, joking, asking him what he wanted for Christmas. (She expected AirPods or Amazon gift cards. Instead, he sent her a wish list of more history books about Puerto Rico.)
"He plays it off with a smile, and he laughs about it, and he said, 'Aunt Britt, it's just giving me more motivation to do what I need to do and get where I want to get,'" Kissling said of her nephew's fraught relationship with his parents. "But, deep down, I know it has to affect him. I'm 34. It would affect me."
This story is part of a partnership betweenWHYY,NPRand KHN.
KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.
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2022-02-18
It has now been 61 weeks since the first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine were sent out to states, kicking off the largest vaccination campaign in human history. As of February 17, 684,648,105 doses of the vaccine have been sent out across the country equivalent to 208.6% of the U.S. population.
While the initial distribution of the vaccine took longer than federal projections had indicated, in recent months the U.S. has made great leaps in the worldwide race to administer vaccinations and some states are faring far better than others. Under the current system, led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sends states limited shipments of the vaccine as well as funding and tasks them with distributing the vaccine in accordance with relatively loose federal guidelines.
Each state has developed its own rollout plan, prioritizing different age groups and classes of essential workers. The mix of policies and logistical challenges across the country has led to wide variations across states in both the percentage of vaccines that have been administered and the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated.
In Maryland, 76.7% of allocated vaccines have been administered to residents as of February 17, lower than the national average of 80.2% and the 13th smallest share of all states.
The administered doses amount to 188.9% of the state population, greater than the 167.2% national figure and the ninth largest share of all states.
While a majority of Americans remain unvaccinated due to a lack of supply, there are some who have no plans to receive a vaccine at all. According to a survey from the U.S. Census Bureau, 64.4% of U.S. adults 18 and over who have not yet received the vaccine will either probably not or definitely not get a COVID-19 vaccine in the future. In Maryland, 57.3% of adults who have not yet received the vaccine report that they will probably not or definitely not get a vaccine in the future, the seventh smallest share of any state. The most common reason cited for not wanting a vaccine is that they were planning to wait and see if it is safe. Other commonly cited reasons include being concerned about possible side effects, not trusting COVID-19 vaccines, and not knowing if the vaccine will work.
To determine how states are doing with the vaccine rollout, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States were ranked based on the number of vaccines administered within a state as a percentage of the number of vaccines distributed to that state by the federal government as of February 17. Data on confirmed COVID-19 cases as of February 17 came from various state and local health departments and were adjusted for population using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey. Data on the percentage of adults who probably or definitely will not get a COVID-19 vaccine and their reasons for not getting one came from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, conducted from December 29, 2021 to January 10, 2022.
DECATUR, Ga. Due to decreased vaccination volume, the DeKalb County Board of Health will close the vaccination site located at the Doraville MARTA station on Sat., Feb. 19. COVID-19 vaccinations will continue to be available at all DeKalb County Board of Health centers and at mobile unit stops.
Everyone aged five years and older is eligible for COVID vaccination, and booster doses of COVID vaccine are recommended for individuals 12 and older. Vaccines are free and do not require insurance. A complete list of health centers and mobile unit stops can be found by visitingdekalbhealth.net. To find additional vaccination providers in DeKalb County and throughout Georgia, visithttps://dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine.
Additionally, the COVID-19 testing site located at Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church in East Atlanta will shift to a three days per week schedule beginning Mon., Feb. 21.
Updated hours for the Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church COVID-19 testing site are as follows:
Appointments and registration forCOVID-19 testingare required and available online. To ensure testing resources are available for individuals who have pre-registered for testing on their scheduled date and time, pre-registrations will be verified to ensure that the appointment date matches the actual day. Individuals scheduled for a future date will be asked to return on their scheduled day. COVID-19 testing is free and open to all individuals who wish to be tested. A drivers license or identification card is not required.
For more information and answers to frequently asked questions about COVID-19 testing, including testing sites throughout metro Atlanta and Georgia, visitdph.georgia.gov/covidtestingor call 888-357-0169.
A memorial fund has been established by Worcester Firefighters IAFF Local 1009 in the name of Firefighter Christopher J. Roy's daughter, Ava Roy. Checks may be made payable to the AVA ROY FUND and mailed directly to the Worcester Fire Department Credit Union, 34 Glennie Street, Worcester, MA 01605.
A little over a year ago, New Zealand and much of the world was waiting for a vaccine to spell the beginning of the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
February 20 marks one year since Aotearoas vaccination programme began in earnest, rolling out first to border and managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) workers though technically the first 25 doses, to vaccinators themselves, were given the day before.
Authorities were initially hesitant to put a target on vaccination, but in January 2021, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said he hoped at least 70 per cent of Kiwis would be vaccinated.
In the year since, more than 10.1 million doses, including boosters, have been given, meaning 96 per cent of eligible people partially-immunised, and 95 per cent fully vaccinated.
ALDEN WILLIAMS/Stuff
Sunday marks a year since New Zealands Covid-19 vaccine roll-out began XX per cent of eligible Kiwis are now fully vaccinated.
READ MORE:* Covid-19: Repeated booster doses of the original vaccine unlikely to be appropriate, WHO says* Covid-19: Will the vaccine protect me from Omicron?* Omicron NZ modelling: Hundreds of thousands of cases with peak possible in mid-March
The roll-out for 5- to 11-year-olds has seen 47 per cent of eligible children vaccinated in little over a month, and 65 per cent of eligible New Zealanders have now been boosted.
However, inequities in access and coverage for minority groups, particularly Mori, have been seen in the adult and paediatric roll-outs; so too has a disparity in uptake in urban and rural parts of the country.
A lot has happened in the span of a year. But what about going forward? Will we need boosters forever?
Immunisation Advisory Centre director Dr Nikki Turner thinks the most likely situation will be that many people, particularly young people with healthy immune systems, may need no further boosters.
Just a handful of countries are giving a fourth dose, mainly to their most vulnerable populations, including Cambodia, Chile, Denmark, Israel and Sweden.
Preliminary data from Israel on people aged over 60 suggested a fourth dose at least four months after a third shot revived antibody levels, doubled resistance against Omicron infection and tripled protection against hospitalisations, compared with only three shots, Nature journal reported.
Auckland University
Auckland University director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre, Dr Nikki Turner.
However, that article raised concerns that as protection from boosters might be short-lived, rolling out endless doses, potentially at the expense of immunising unvaccinated people in low-income nations, was not a viable or long-term global strategy.
Vaccinologist Associate Professor Helen Petousis-Harris did not envisage a future of endless boosters.
As the world became increasingly resistant to Covid-19 and its variants, it was more likely going to become a matter of keeping people who were most at risk such as senior citizens boosted, or targeting the most common variants, she said.
Immunologist Professor Graham Le Gros agreed regular boosting with current vaccines was not the best long-term strategy, noting major efforts were under way to develop a vaccine to target all variants.
As the world developed more immunity to Covid-19 either from disease or vaccination, or both the need for ongoing boosters lessened, Turner said.
While there was evidence antibody immunity waned over time, people still had cellular memory and protection against severe disease if later exposed, she said.
However, if SARS-CoV-2 mutated in a way that evaded protection offered by current vaccines, people might need a further booster, or multiple further boosters.
If immunity needed to be boosted more often, we could be looking at a situation like with influenza, where an annual vaccination is given for different circulating strains, she said.
Current vaccines still appeared effective against severe disease from variants coming through, Turner said: Youd need a significant variant to see a lot of escape.
Hospitalisations, ICU admissions and death rates would be key measures of how well vaccines were working, Turner said.
If there was a rise in any of those in the coming months or even years, further boosters might be needed.
However, if the disease burden was looking mild, the argument for repeat boosters reduced.
Turner said it was important people understood there was a strategic plan to vaccination: getting vaccinated was not now about eliminating Covid-19, it was about protecting people against severe disease and minimising its impact.
City, provincial and federal law enforcement officers begananunprecedented operation Friday morning to remove demonstrators, their trucks and cars, that have been blockading the streets. On Friday, more than 100 people were arrested and 21 vehicles were towed.
Another 38 vehicles have been towed since Friday, police say.
Wellington Street in front of Parliament has been cleared. Police say they will continue restoring the streets to normal order over the coming days.
"One protester launched a gas canister and was arrested," Ottawa police said in a tweet.
Police said their response would have public and officer safety in mind.
"We were slow and methodical, yet you were assaultive and aggressive with officers and the horses. Based on your behavior, we are responding by including helmets and batons for our safety," police said.
Earlier Saturday morning, police warned protesters to leave. More than 100 checkpoints remain to keep more protesters from entering the city.
Parliament was under a "hold and secure" order similar to a lockdown.
Demonstrators have been blockading Ottawa streets since January 29; despite threats of legal consequences, many showed no signs of backing down. Law enforcement officers began an unprecedented operation Friday morning to remove protesters and their vehicles.
On Saturday, Legislators resumed emergency debate on the Emergencies Act, which had been interrupted Friday, House Speaker Anthony Rota said in a statement.
The points of contention have become more delicate in recent days as some protesters placed young children between them and police. CNN has observed those children on the protest site in the last several days.
DC prepares for potential similar protests
And Trudeau has pointed out that some people in the US, as well as elsewhere, are funneling funding to the protesters.
"We see that roughly half of the funding that is flowing to the barricaders here is coming from the United States. The goal of all measures, including financial measures in the Emergencies Act, is to deal with the current threat only, and to get the situation fully under control."
Meanwhile, officials in US are concerned that similar unrest may arise in Washington, DC, as President Joe Biden prepares for the State of the Union address on March 1.
Organizers face charges
Several people arrested earlier this week have been charged in the protests, which have evolved from opposition to a trucker vaccine mandate to encompassing a disdain for all Covid-19 safety measures.
Patrick James King, 44, of Red Deer, Alberta, was arrested Friday, according to Ottawa Police.
King is charged by the Criminal Investigations Section with mischief, counseling to commit the offense of mischief, counseling to commit the offense of disobeying court order, and counseling to commit the offense of obstructing police.
He was set to appear in court Saturday.
On Friday, Ottawa police confirmed the arrests of organizers Tamara Lich, 49, and Christopher John Barber, 46.
Lich was charged with counseling to commit the offense of mischief and Barber has been charged with counseling to commit the offense of mischief, counseling to commit the offense of disobeying a court order, and counseling to commit the offense of obstructing police.
Barber had a contested bail hearing Friday, attorney Diane Magas said in an email to CNN. He was released on the condition that he leave Ottawa and a bond, she added. Lich is scheduled to appear in court Saturday morning for her arraignment.
CNN's Paula Newton reported from Ottawa. This story was written by Aya Elamroussi and Jay Croft in Atlanta. Paradise Afshar, Travis Caldwell, Raja Razek, Chris Boyette, Amir Vera, Chuck Johnston and Jenn Selva contributed to this report.
