For now, it seems fully vaccinated people are well-protected against the extremely contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.
But are we likely to need booster shots soon?
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We put that question to the Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF. "I think boosters are going to be in all of our future at some point," he told KCBS Radio’s "As Prescribed" on Thursday.
They’re not recommended for anyone yet.
But he thinks the first group likely to need them are those with diminished immune responses – such as people with cancer.
"It’s turning out that even your two shots of Pfizer and Moderna doesn’t predictably give you the level of immunity that we want, and I’m guessing that the recommendation is going to be that a third shot is going to be necessary for those folks," Wachter said.
He thinks people over 70 may need them sooner than others, too.
Because the Johnson & Johnson shot appears to be less protective than Pfizer and Moderna, a more robust booster could be on tap for those Americans.
"I think it’s probably going to turn out to be that people who got (Johnson & Johnson) – the single (Johnson & Johnson) shot – that the level of immunity may not be high enough in the face of delta and that they may benefit from a second shot," he added. "It would be an mRNA shot – it would be a Pfizer or Moderna shot on top of their (Johnson & Johnson shot)."
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