Belfair resident Peggy Judd, 41, got her first Moderna dose in a pharmacy last week — nearly four months after she received a Johnson & Johnson dose in early April.
“I wanted to get the mRNA, because it is so much more effective, and there is less chance that I will get COVID and also transfer it to other people,” she said.
Judd got interested in another round of vaccines after reading about the effectiveness of vaccines in national news coverage. Studies suggest the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may provide less protection, particularly against the delta variant, according to USA Today in July.
Judd shared about her decisions to get an mRNA dose on social media and sparked a debate among her circle on whether it’s the right path.
National and local health organizations, however, say they’re not recommending it for now.
While some countries are recommending boosters, the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kitsap Public Health are not at the moment.
However, that doesn’t mean the door is closed, as at least two different studies are being conducted at the University of Washington to determine whether boosters are safe and helpful.
The WHO called for a moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September to make sure at least 10% of the population of every country is vaccinated, said the organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a news conference on Wednesday.
The head of the UN health agency said high-income countries have administered almost 100 doses for every 100 people, while low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 doses per 100 people as a result of lack of supply.
“We need an urgent reversal from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries to the majority going to low-income countries,” Tedros said in the conference.
Kitsap Public Health District follows recommendations from Washington State Department of Health, CDC and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to not administer any additional doses for people who are fully immunized, said the district’s health officer, Dr. Gib Morrow, in an email response to Kitsap Sun.
Currently, the CDC and ACIP don’t recommend giving booster doses even if people request it. Booster doses include administering more than two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or more than one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, said the state’s department of health in an email to COVID-19 vaccine providers.
There are no recommendations to get a dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine after getting a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the state’s department of health added.
KPHD also doesn’t provide additional vaccines for those who have been fully immunized overseas with any WHO-authorized vaccine when people return from abroad, Morrow said.
Is mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines safe?
Clinical trials are evaluating different combinations and schedules of vaccinations. However, these types of studies are not complete, Morrow said.
So far, clinical trials show that mixing and matching vaccines appears to be safe, said Dr. Deborah Fuller, a professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Microbiology.
More:Is J&J’s COVID-19 shot good enough? Experts say yes but want more data
Fuller suggests that people wait until they get official notices from health organizations before deciding on their own to get vaccine boosters. Whether people need boosters to keep themselves protected and how often they’re needed are still unknown, she said.
“It takes years and years of study to really know whether or not we’re going to need those boosters,” Fuller said.
KPHD advises people to speak to their physician and defer the decision about and administration of additional doses to their individual healthcare provider if people are concerned about an inadequate immune response, the district said in the email.
Vaccine boosters clinical trials in Seattle seek volunteers
Two research institutes in the Seattle area are seeking volunteers to participate in their clinical trials about COVID-19 vaccine boosters as part of a national study.
The University of Washington Virology Research Clinic and Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute collaborated with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to test the safety and effectiveness of a delayed vaccine boost in people who have received an emergency-use authorized (EUA) vaccine series, according to a database maintained by the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.
Kitsap County residents can join the UW trials as long as they can come to Seattle for the seven to eight follow-up visits required for the study, said Christine Johnston, associate professor at the UW Department of Medicine.
“At this point, we do not have a deadline for the trial, as we may continue to add new vaccine candidates to test over time,” Johnston said.
The UW research team has had a great response to the study, so the team won’t be able to enroll everyone who is interested, Johnston added.
“While a relatively small number of people who wish to volunteer are selected to participate in our COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, we welcome people applying,” according to Jonathan Rabinovitz, a spokesperson of Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute.
The study was estimated to be completed in May 2025, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Judd said she would have been really interested in participated in clinical trials to get a vaccine booster if she had known there was one. Since she’s already got her first Moderna vaccine, she inclined to complete her second dose in a few weeks, Judd said.
She’ll keep reading and paying attention on information about vaccine boosters until the day she gets her second booster.
“I have 20 days,” Judd said. “I read the news every day and I try my best to keep up with the emerging science from reputable news sources and verified sources of information.”
People who are interested in participating clinical trials can reach the research team at joinuwcovid19vax@uw.edu or complete a survey at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Vaccine Registry at https://corona.kpwashingtonresearch.org/.
Reach breaking news reporter Peiyu Lin at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter @peiyulintw.
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