Health
Fitness
B3
Saturday, October 2, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Why COVID booster shots turned out to be more complicated than vaccines
By MELISSA HEALY
Los Angeles Times
Just a few months ago,
the protection off ered
by COVID-19 vaccines
brought Americans joy and
relief, allowing the fully
immunized to ditch their
masks and return to a sem-
blance of pre-pandemic life.
Now that protection seems
more like an illusion.
What happened?
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images-TNS
ously ill. Another worry is
that mutations may change
the virus in ways that pre-
vent vaccine-induced anti-
bodies from recognizing it.
The rise of the delta
variant shows that scien-
tists are right to be worried.
In chart after chart, FDA
and the CDC experts cited
research suggesting that
the now-dominant strain
has helped erode vaccines’
eff ectiveness in myriad
ways.
Filled syringes loaded with the Pfi zer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Has our vaccine-induced
immune response really fi z-
zled? Is the delta variant to
blame for waning vaccine
eff ectiveness? Is the resur-
gent dread of COVID-19
warranted? Will booster
shots restore our protection
— and the hope that came
with it?
Both the Food and Drug
Administration and the
Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Protection grap-
pled with these questions
before giving the go-ahead
to boosters in certain pop-
ulations. If that guid-
ance seemed disjointed or
confused, it was largely
because the science is still
emerging.
Factor in the crosswinds
of politics, fear, rampant
misinformation and a vac-
cination campaign that has
lost its momentum, and
things become even more
fraught.
For instance, in declining
to recommend that a third
dose of the Pfi zer-BioNTech
vaccine be made available
to all who got their second
dose at least six months ear-
lier, members of a CDC
advisory panel made clear
they did not want to under-
mine public confi dence
in COVID-19 vaccines
when so many haven’t even
gotten their fi rst dose.
How did we get here?
Let’s start by acknowl-
edging that vaccines were
never perfect
Even in clinical trials,
the Pfi zer-BioNTech vac-
cine was reported to be
95% eff ective at preventing
cases of COVID-19. That
means the risk of becoming
sick after getting the shots
was small but not zero —
and it doesn’t say anything
about the vaccine’s ability
to thwart a coronavirus
infection in the fi rst place.
Moreover, that lofty
fi gure was unlikely to hold
under real-world condi-
tions. In the United States,
close to 3% of adults are
immune-compromised and
therefore unlikely to mount
a strong protective response
to a vaccine. Plus, new
viral variants are continu-
ally being incubated domes-
tically or imported from
abroad.
Random mutations to
the coronavirus’s genome
might alter it in ways that
could make it more trans-
missible, or enhance its
ability to make people seri-
Vaccines aff ect the
immune system
in complex, and
mysterious, ways
The fi rst months fol-
lowing immunization
are the heyday for anti-
bodies: They’re plentiful,
recently trained to recog-
nize their target virus, and
varied enough to recognize
several of its features. A
virus looking to invade is
unlikely to sneak past.
But as that initial spate
of antibodies decays, the
immune system can rely on
its memory banks — the
legions of white blood cells
in which resides the battle
plan for fi ghting a new
infection. The appearance
of a virus should prompt
these specialized cells to
swing into action. Helper
T cells stimulate B cells to
produce a fresh crop of anti-
bodies. They also prompt
other T cells to hunt down
cells that have been infected
and kill them.
But this process isn’t
instantaneous, and if the
coronavirus can estab-
lish itself in the nose and
mouth quickly enough,
the immune system may
not respond fast enough
to bar the gates. Infection
happens.
For most people — but
clearly not all — the cav-
alry will arrive in time to
blunt an all-out invasion
and head off severe dis-
ease. That may explain why
researchers have found that
the longer the time since
vaccination, the greater the
odds that inoculated people
test positive for a corona-
virus infection, even though
the rate at which they’re
being hospitalized for
COVID-19 has risen much
less steeply.
This pattern has been
observed in Israel, Qatar
and the United States. In
one study that focused
on New York, the three
available vaccines’ com-
bined ability to prevent
infection fell from 92% in
early May to about 77%
in late August, and the
decline was seen in all
age groups. Yet during the
same period, when age
was taken into account, the
vaccines’ eff ectiveness in
preventing hospitalization
held steady. (By mid-June,
however, hospitalization
rates among vaccinated
adults over 65 did begin to
climb).
When it comes to
immunity, age matters
Immunity generally
weakens as we get older,
and so does our response
to vaccines. Both of those
facts have been key in the
current pandemic.
Before vaccines became
available, people 65 and
older were by far most
likely to die of COVID-
19. So they were among
the fi rst Americans to get a
vaccine — and particularly
the Pfi zer-BioNTech vac-
cine, which became avail-
able fi rst.
That makes senior citi-
zens the age group furthest
out from vaccination. And
with clear evidence that
they’re once again vulner-
able to severe COVID-19,
advisers to the FDA and
CDC agreed that those 65
and up who received their
second dose of the Pfi z-
er-BioNTech vaccine at
least six months earlier
should have a booster shot
of that vaccine made avail-
able to them.
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Enterprise
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2021
YOUR BIRTHDAY by Stella Wilder
Born today, you are a firm believer in taking
your destiny in your hands and doing all you
can to shape your successes and minimize
your failures. You don’t like to relinquish
control over your life to some insubstantial,
unproven force. You believe that in doing so
you are, in effect, shirking your responsibility
for your progress and well-being. And you
believe in responsibility more than any other
single notion or principle in life.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- You have more
to offer than you know, and today is the day to
make it clear to those in charge that a pending
agreement is a one-time deal!
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- You may
find that you have more time on your hands
than expected today -- but you mustn’t just
fritter it away. You have things to get done.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- The
domestic scene isn’t giving you precisely what
you want right now, but that doesn’t mean you
can cut and run. Work it out!
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Your
needs are almost sure to clash with another’s
today, but you may realize that you have more
in common than first meets the eye.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- You’re fac-
ing certain challenges today, but others are
facing some of their own, putting you all in
the same basic situation. Cooperate!
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -- You know
precisely what someone is asking of you today,
even though they’re not putting it directly. Cut
through the nonsense quickly!
ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Your confi-
dence is impressive, but is it just a smoke-
screen? Eventually you’ll have to prove that
you can do what you say you can.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- Someone is
trying to put one over on you, but you’re aware
of the scam and know just what to do to avoid
being duped. Speak truth to power!
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- If you want
to get where you’re going in the time allotted,
you’re going to have to come up with a new
way of getting there. Be creative.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- You’ve been
rather shortsighted about a certain situation
lately, but today that’s likely to change -- just in
time. You can prevail.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- You may not be
able to transform another’s complaints into
satisfaction today, but you can surely address
the situation and offer solace.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Interaction
between you and a rival takes on renewed
importance today as things heat up in a man-
ner that takes you both very much by surprise.
COPYRIGHT 2021 UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.
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∙ Enterprise Group
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TUESDAYS
∙ Enterprise Group
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(Big Bk Study)
113.5 E Main St.
WEDNESDAYS
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113.5 E Main St.
THURSDAYS
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SATURDAYS
∙ Enterprise Group
7:00 pm
113.5 E Main St.
City of Joseph
WEDNESDAYS
∙ Buck Stops Here
Joseph United
Methodist Church, 12 pm
301 S. Lake St., Joseph
(Church Basement)
by Stella Wilder
by Stella W
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