Long-Term Worry On Covid-19 Spurs Push on Boosters

"Emerging data indicating that a small percentage of vaccinated people develop long-term Covid-19 is helping drive the Biden administration's push to roll out boosters broadly, according to people familiar with the planning.

Breakthrough infections among fully vaccinated people remain rare, and long Covid cases are more common in unvaccinated people. Yet some federal health regulators see the new data as a reason to offer boosters more widely in the coming weeks, the people said. Other health experts, however, say most people don't need the extra doses.

The administration has argued publicly for a broad booster campaign citing data that shows immunity from vaccination wanes over time, particularly in older people. So far, however, extra doses of Pfizer Inc.'s shot are cleared only for seniors and certain high-risk adults. The European Medicines Agenc, on the other hand, has endorsed Pfizer boosters more widely, for all adults 18 and over.

Inside the Biden administration, some officials have advocated wide use of the extra doses to prevent Covid-19 infection and further reduce the risk of developing long Covid, even though the risk is low, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Some doctors and health experts have expressed opposition to giving boosters to more than seniors or people with weakened immune systems. They say the vaccines appear to be protecting healthy people against severe Covid-19 and that there isn't evidence to support broader use.

There are varying estimates of how many people have long Covid, with previous studies estimating 10% to 30% of patients. It can be hard to quantify because it only recently became an official diagnosis and not everyone agrees on what the symptoms are.

 

Long Covid has generally been used to refer to symptoms that linger for weeks or months beyond infection, even a mild one. Symptoms include brain fog, fatigue and shortness of breath, as well as a racing heartbeat and an inability to tolerate physical or mental exertion.

 

The symptoms usually appear three months after the onset of Covid-19, last for at least two months and can't be explained by an alternate diagnosis, according to the World Health Organization. They can be new symptoms or persist from the initial illness.

 

In August, the Food and Drug Administration authorized an extra dose of the Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE and from Moderna Inc. for people with weakened immune systems. The booster campaign for the wider public kicked off last month, after the Pfizer-BioNTech shot was cleared for seniors and certain people at high risk.” [1]

 1. U.S. News: Long-Term Worry On Covid-19 Spurs Push on Boosters
Armour, Stephanie; Schwartz, Felicia.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 08 Oct 2021: A.6.