The data from Israel is all Pfizer. There is data from the US, too, but it’s being given even less credence than is the data from Israel. Be safe. Get a third shot, if it’s been more than 5 months since your last dose, no matter what you had - JnJ, Moderna, Pfizer. Don’t listen to me. Listen to Dr. Fauci, who is saying that we should have already begun what Israel began doing 2-3 months ago, giving boosters to everyone.
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FWIW, I researched the dosage for the original shots. Pfizer was .3ml and Moderna was .5ml. Apparently Pfizer was concerned that .5ml would produce greater side effects (and anecdotally that seems correct). Everything I’m reading online says the booster is the same dosage for Pfizer (.3ml). And as I mentioned upthread the booster clinical trial I may do is .5ml/full dosage Moderna.
Your mother may have better immunity because she had Moderna with the larger initial dose x2.
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Note that the 0.3ml Pfizer dose contains 30 micrograms of mRNA, while the 0.5ml Moderna dose contains 100 micrograms of mRNA. So a half dose of Moderna would still have more mRNA than a regular dose of Pfizer.
Got my Pfizer last week. No reaction other than mild sore arm for a day which was not very different from what I experienced with shots 1 and 2 in Jan and Feb. I just wonder how effective it is for me. Now that everything is approved no trouble at all in getting the shot scheduled either.
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Oh, wow. I did not realize that. Thanks for the info.
I had no reaction to Pfizer #3, not even a sore arm. So, was it effective?
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Last spring I was concerned about side effects. I was happy to get Pfizer. Now I am worried about lack of side effects, and wish I had gotten Moderna.
If Pfizer was 30 mcg mRNA ( 3 week wait between shots) and Moderna was 100 (4 week wait between shots) it seems the ideal may have been 70 mcg with a 4 week interval.
Moderna’s booster will be 50mcg, still substantially more than Pfizer’s for an individual shot and the total mRNA over three shots is 250mcg versus Pfizer’s 90 mcg total.
FDA Advisory Committee meetings scheduled for later this month re boosters for Moderna and J&J (Oct 14/Oct 15) and EUA for Pfizer for 5-11 year olds (Oct 26) FDA to Hold Advisory Committee Meetings to Discuss Emergency Use Authorization for Booster Doses and COVID-19 Vaccines for Younger Children | FDA
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Keep in mind that CDC is doing its best to balance things that have nothing to do with your mom’s health. Global opinion. Anti-vax sentiment. Public order, supply, all sorts of things. CDC also told us not to bother with masks for months (which, if you knew anything about aerosols, was ludicrous; I ignored them).
She’s 88. When you’re 88, you can have all the ice cream and boosters you want. Don’t worry about it, look after her, bring her in for the shot.
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not to mention that there is no “line”. Vaccines remain plentiful in the US. Major pharmacy chains are offering same-day appointments and even walk-ins. They’ll be happy to jab your mom.
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After a bit of prodding today, I got my mom to sign herself and my dad up for boosters (both are under 65 but have preexisting conditions on the CDC list). She got them both appointments tomorrow at the same time at CVS to get their booster AND flu shot. It took my non-tech-savvy mom about 20 minutes to do it online. Super, super easy. In comparison, when they became eligible for the shots in NYS back in February, it took me several nerve-wracking hours to get them appointments.
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I think people who had an out-of-the ordinary reaction to one of the first two shots should talk to an infectious disease doc or rheumatologist (who is experienced with vaccine reactions) before they get a third shot.
I am very pro-vax, but we do not have the same kind of data on third shots that we had for the first two. There is no approved third shot for Moderna at all.
My parents are in their 80’s and got Moderna. DH and I have asked them to wait until the FDA advisory board meets on the 14th and 15th of this month to decide about further shots. If they decide to go for a third, I would prefer they get the 1/2 dose that Moderna developed and has studied as a third shot, not the unapproved full dose pharmacies are giving out now.
My parents are going to get exposed to Covid eventually. They may have already reduced their chances of hospitalization, severe or long Covid as much as possible with the first two shots. Maybe it would be better for them to get infected, fight it off, and have broader, longer lasting immunity than to get a third shot, delay infection for 3-6 more months, but end up right back where they are now. It’s impossible to know yet.
I’d also like to know whether my parents might be better off getting Pfizer or J&J for the third. We are supposed to get more info on that on the 15th.
I got Pfizer, and for now, I’d rather not get the third shot (I am under 65 with no risk factors). We think that people who got Covid, recovered, and later got fully vaccinated have the strongest, broadest, most sterilizing immunity. (When they run models of all possible variants against these people’s antibodies, they shut down every one.) Maybe vaccination followed by Covid exposure offers similar immunity.
I am still very careful about distancing/masking—I’d rather wait until Merck’s oral anti-viral is available to get exposed. But I don’t want to be careful like this forever.
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I just went for a routine checkup (and Medicare wellness visit) with my doctor. I am over age 65 with diabetes II and it’s seven months after my second Moderna vaccine. I asked her, in effect, should I go into a pharmacy now for a third Moderna vaccine by checking off the “qualified” box, or wait a few weeks until a booster (likely 50%) will undoubtedly be approved.
Although we had to dance around the language, she basically said she would not discourage someone in my situation to get the shot now. Obviously she couldn’t officially recommend it, but it was clear she thought it was a good idea.
Then when the nurse came in to check me out, she also “approved” me going in now. She said medical workers were trying to figure out how to get a third Moderna before official approval. She also pointed out that Moderna had been given at the biggest mass vaccination site in the area in the first rush of vaccines. Ergo, there would be a large population wanting to schedule once an official booster was approved and people were notified through the system of eligibility.
My closest CVS has tons of appointments. So I will likely go in soon, at least once the mid-month meetings are held if not sooner.
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Millions of people have now had the 3rd shot all over the world. The problem with waiting for immunity from having covid itself is that there is no assurance you will survive the encounter; many have not.
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IME one of the little discussed consequences of covid in the elderly is the extent it ages them. Even if they survive, those over 80 can seem a decade older from the experience, per doctors and patients I know. Perhaps that is the case with other serious illnesses, but most unfortunate. At that age each year can matter.
Fully vaccinated young healthy people can be fairly sure of surviving Covid. If they are elderly or high risk, and they are willing to get monoclonal antibodies as soon as they test positive, their chances are also good.
Is there evidence that people with three shots are more likely to survive Covid than those with two? If so, I have not seen it.
I’m not saying that I have any answers on third shots—only questions. No one has great data on the necessity of third shots yet, and the only approved third shot in the US is Pfizer.
If people feel safer getting a third, more power to them, especially if they are in an approved group. But I’d like to see some US studies showing that a third shot does more than make you less likely to test positive for a few months.
The evidence you seek occurs in Israel, so perhaps it is insufficient for you.
Pfizer appears to be like a 1/3-strength Moderna in terms of amount of mRNA per dose. J&J is somewhat different, but may be a “stronger” vaccine per dose, since 1 dose of J&J was considered “enough”, but 2 doses of Moderna or Pfizer were needed to be “enough” (more than “enough” against the ancestral virus, but Pfizer may be less so against Delta).
But that would only officially apply to getting the +1 dose of whatever vaccine you got before, not getting a dose of a different vaccine as the +1 dose. I.e. any recommendations from that FDA meeting would only apply to getting an additional Moderna dose for those who got Moderna before.
It does look like Moderna and J&J have not seen declines in effectiveness against Delta the way Pfizer has. However, the somewhat lower initial effectiveness of J&J (1 dose) may nudge some J&J recipients to get another dose.
I do not discount evidence from Israel. But I only see evidence that third shots reduce cases, not deaths. In fact, the data from Israel says that Pfizer is still 93% effective at preventing serious illness and hospitalization caused by delta.
I’ve also found that the definition of “serious illness” is not universal. In some places, vaccinated people with Covid are counted as seriously ill even though they are not hypoxic and do not require oxygen or any Covid treatment (such as steroids or anticoagulants). In fact they are often hospitalized just in case. I’m not necessarily against hospitalizing at-risk people out of an abundance of caution, but in a research study, I would prefer to know how many of those patients actually needed hospital care.
As far as third doses, I am not saying people shouldn’t get one, just that we don’t have great data, and I think it’s reasonable to wait.
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Any booster that reduces hospitalization , severe disease or death is a perfect reason IMO to get the booster.
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