MSNBC Medical Expert: It Is Smart To Study if Booster Shoots Will Be Needed

EXCERPT:

BHADELIA: “The likelihood of getting reinfected is likely much lower and that immune memory may last for longer. That’s what we think, but I think it’s smart of Moderna to take this stance, to start gathering data on this because it will give us a better — the longevity of protection, how long vaccine will protect us is an ongoing question that needs to be answered for all the vaccines, and they are taking the stance to show what those immunological parameters will look like. The other reason it might be just important for us to have this in place is that for most of us who are in this field, we think that we may end up needing these vaccines on an annual or a semi-annual level because the virus is evolving. We’ve seen these new variants that are more transmissible. And even though currently the variants that are out there seem to be — the vaccines that are out there can protect against them, eventually enough evolution may happen that we may need to adjust that.”