As the world struggles to get more and more people vaccinated against COVID-19 and reach the coveted herd immunity, researchers are in another race to develop new, more convenient and accessible booster shots.
Scientists are exploring booster shots in the form of patches, inhalants and even a vaccine that conquers multiple viruses in one shot.
The most obvious next step from the three major vaccine companies - Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson - are booster shots that would come with a lower dose.
"With many vaccines, we understand that at a certain point in time we need to boost, whether that's nine months, 12 months. And we are preparing for that," Dr. David Kessler, chief science officer for the administration's COVID-19 response, told lawmakers last month.
According to CBS News, some booster shots could be blended with the annual flu shot.
As for the variants, both Moderna and Pfizer are adjusting current vaccines to try to address the virulent virus first found in South Africa called B.1.251.
"If we boost with the B.1.351 strain and we see that the serum antibodies are broader, not only do they neutralize the original strain but also B.1.351 and other variants, then that may be a preferred approach," Dr. John Mascola, head of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told CBS News.
Given so many people’s hesitancy to needles, researchers are additionally looking into alternatives to vaccines that don't rely on needles and syringes. NIH has found positive results from a single-dose intranasal vaccine tested on monkeys, similar to AstraZeneca's.
Scientists are also looking into a vaccine that could give protection from multiple virus’ called a “pan-coronavirus” vaccine.
"Over the last four years, we've been working on trying to move away from one virus, one vaccine. And try to really have vaccines for the future," M. Gordon Joyce, a top scientist at WRAIR's emerging infectious diseases branch told CBS News.