Tennessee doctor says COVID-19 vaccines effectiveness has been “waning” over time
Center for Disease Control officials report 13 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations are vaccinated people.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -As booster shot eligibility begins in Tennessee, one local doctor wants to remind you when it’s the right time to get your vaccine.
Dr. William Schaffner at Vanderbilt University Medical Center said for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, getting your booster shot six to eight months afterwards is recommended, while the J&J recommendation is as soon as two months. Schaffner said as far as the boosters effectiveness, the early studies are promising.
“We’ll have longer protection and in addition better protection against the variant viruses that are out there,” said Schaffner.
Although the research on booster vaccines has been promising, Schaffner said that the initial COVID vaccines have been “starting to wane in their protection, starting to drift down”.
CDC data shows that back in May, 5 percent of hospitalized COVID patients were vaccinated, while in September that number rose to 13 percent.
Schaffner said that in Tennessee the majority of those breakthrough cases that end up in the hospital are people that are older or have underlying conditions, and they don’t get as sick as someone that didn’t get the vaccine.
The booster vaccine hopes to reduce those growing numbers of vaccinated people testing positive for COVID, but Schaffner said that it’s a real possibility that more vaccinations are in the future.
“Is it likely that sometime in the future a year from now two years from now whatever that we’ll have to get another booster? Why sure. We have to get a tetanus booster every ten years we have to get a flu shot on a regular basis”, said Schaffner.
For a link to the CDC data click HERE.
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