Big questions about the Covid booster shot, answered

How omicron has reframed the booster debate.

Subscribe and turn on notifications 🔔 so you don't miss any videos: http://goo.gl/0bsAjO

Much of the messaging from authorities around Covid-19 booster shots has been confusing — and that’s partly because scientists themselves haven’t always agreed on who needs them. When many countries began to recommend boosters not just for the older and high-risk, but for all adults, they were essentially taking sides in a still-unresolved debate around that question: Why give an extra dose to healthy adults who are still very protected against severe Covid-19 cases from their original dose?

But since the omicron variant has emerged, many have changed their minds. To understand why, we talked to one formerly skeptical expert who scheduled her own booster shot based on what she learned about omicron. We spoke to her about what happens in your immune system when you get that third (or second) shot, and why it could be especially useful in stopping the spread of omicron.

Make sure you never miss behind-the-scenes content in the Vox Video newsletter. Sign up here: http://vox.com/video-newsletter

Since our conversation with Dr. Gounder, newer data seems to corroborate the prediction that boosters will be effective against omicron: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/08/world/omicron-variant-covid

Vox's Dylan Scott reported on many of the early questions around omicron: https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19/2021/12/1/22809878/covid-19-omicron-variant-vaccine-booster-shots

Our World in Data is probably the best place to see how your county is doing with boosters:
​​https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-vaccine-booster-doses-per-capita
And what percent is already fully vaccinated:
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-people-fully-vaccinated-covid

And these are the studies we refer to in the video:

This one from Israel shows the benefit a booster can give longer-term: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02249-2/fulltext

And these US studies show the waning effectiveness of the vaccines against any infection:
https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2821%2902183-8
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.10.08.21264595v1.full.pdf

This was the presentation NIH gave the FDA after studying mixing and matching Pfizer, Modern and J&J: https://www.fda.gov/media/153128/download

And here’s a study on mixing AstraZeneca with mRNA vaccines: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01464-w

You can watch more of our Covid-19 coverage here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ8cMiYb3G5dBbOh_8kPN5s5aJHt1UCwn

Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com

Support Vox's reporting with a one-time or recurring contribution: http://vox.com/contribute-now

Shop the Vox merch store: http://vox.com/store

Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE

Follow Vox on Facebook: http://facebook.com/vox
Follow Vox on Twitter: http://twitter.com/voxdotcom
Follow Vox on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@voxdotcom