Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional chief of infectious diseases for Kaiser Permanente, joined Eyewitness News to discuss the vaccine and answered a question from a viewer who wanted to know if seniors who were vaccinated in February would need a booster shot in the fall.
Dr. Hudson said that although we only have six months worth of vaccine data because of how long we have been using them, it’s hard to say.
“But day by day, we learn more and more about them and it seems that the response and protection against these COVID vaccines will be sustainable,” she said. “I think at least a year and probably more, but with all COVID, time will tell.”
New research published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week suggests that protection against the Modern vaccine lasts at least six months. This report echoes what Pfizer said a week earlier about its vaccine, which works similarly.
Both reports were based on follow-up tests on dozens of people who received the vaccines during studies that led to the use of the vaccines. These studies were done before the advent of new variants or versions of coronavirus, which began to spread.
Look: You received the second dose of COVID vaccine: now what?
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2021 KABC-TV. All rights reserved.