Ever-Changing COVID-19 Virus Requires Ever-Changing Vaccine

The measles vaccine lasts forever. The chickenpox vaccine is good for as long as 20 years. The DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) requires five doses before the age of seven, but then it offers protection for at least 10 years, Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman reported for Jerusalem Post.

Photo Insert: The first reason we might need a fourth (or fifth or sixth) shot is because of the decay of our own antibodies and immune response.

So why do we assume that we will have to get a shot of the coronavirus vaccine every six months or year? There are reasons why individuals might need a COVID booster at least every year, but also some reasons why the third shot may, in fact, be our last.

The first reason we might need a fourth (or fifth or sixth) shot is because of the decay of our own antibodies and immune response, explained Dr. Oren Kobiler of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Recent studies have shown that the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine wanes after four to six months, making individuals more prone to infection.

A booster dose does exactly what its name implies: It boosts our antibodies, offering greater protection against the virus.

Another reason we might need repeated shots is due to variants, or what is known in scientific terms as “antigenic drift.” If the virus is always changing, then our vaccines will need to be updated to protect against the latest threat.

Some viruses, such as polio, measles, and mumps, do not change a lot, hence the vaccines continue to be effective. In contrast, influenza changes every year, so people receive a new flu vaccine to protect against it.

“The vaccine is the protection,” said Prof. Meital Gal Tanamy, head of the Molecular Virology Lab at Bar-Ilan University’s Faculty of Medicine.

“The period of protection is dependent on the vaccine and the virus.” Coronavirus is an RNA virus, which means it changes. However, its mutation rate is three to four times less compared with the influenza virus, which is good news for vaccine makers, Tanamy said.

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