Does a recent COVID-19 infection mean you won’t need another booster dose? The Centers for Disease Control seems to think so, according to NBC News.

“If you've had omicron disease in the last two or three months, that really did boost your immune system quite well," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walesnky said. She clarified that getting an additional booster shot now is safe, despite the potential need for another one later this year.

Pfizer and Moderna’s two-dose mRNA shots have proven to be very effective in preventing severe disease from the coronavirus, although various studies that have been published show that their efficacy wanes after a few months. ​​In a study published late last month by the national health agency, recipients of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine were advised to get a booster with one of Pfizer or Moderna's mRNA vaccines.

The Food and Drug Administration believes that the majority of vaccinated individuals will need to get boosted again this upcoming fall. “We could basically wait until another wave comes along and then try to make another vaccine and try to deal with it,” FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research director Dr. Peter Marks said. “I think we know that doesn't work, because we can't manufacture and deploy vaccine fast enough." The federal agency will meet this Wednesday to further discuss future booster doses, according to NPR.

"By this fall, we may be on to a new variant. It could be sigma. It may be tau. There may be something new that may be circulating that we'll have to deal with," Marks said. "We're going to have to make a good guess at what may be most effective."

In March, a second booster shot of COVID-19 vaccines was authorized by the FDA for those aged 50 and above. “Current evidence suggests some waning of protection overtime against serious outcomes from COVID-19 in older and immunocompromised individuals,” Marks said.

RELATED STORIES
CDC Pfizer