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If two years of life under the pandemic have proven anything, it's that COVID-19 has proven to be an elusive enemy with no shortage of surprises. But even as case counts have risen and fallen as the virus has taken on slightly new forms that affect its transmissibility, highly effective vaccines have helped bring hospitalization and death rates down to much lower levels than during the earliest days of the virus. This was true even for the Omicron variant, which sent the national infection rate to its highest points ever in mid-January and is currently causing infections to rise sekali lagi.

Baca ini selanjutnya:Lebih dari 50? Do Not Get a Second Booster If You've Done This, CDC Warns.

Fortunately, research has shown that the rollout of vaccines and their subsequent boosters has helped protect the public from COVID-19,USA Today reports. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through March 19 of this year found that unvaccinated Americans over the age of five were ten times more likely to die from the virus than those who received both initial shots. And those 12 or older were found to be 20 times more likely to succumb to the virus if they hadn't been vaccinated.

However, time has still proven to be a significant challenge in the fight against COVID-19. Highly contagious new variants have tested the vaccines' efficacy in preventing infection while waning immunity from the original shots has also brought about the need for additional doses. But according to a new study published on May 13 in JAMA Network Open, some boosters may only offer a brief window of protection from the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, Forbes reports.

The latest research considered 128 patients who had received at least both initial shots of the Pfizer vaccine and some who had received the third booster dose. Blood tests were taken from each to examine antibody levels, which can help measure how protected someone is from infection from the virus or severe illness. Results found that levels of specific "neutralizing" antibodies that protect against the Omicron variant fell "rapidly" compared to those effective against the Delta variant and original strain, dropping from 76 percent four weeks after the second initial dose to 53 percent eight to ten weeks later and 19 percent at the 12 to 14-week mark.

Results also showed that a booster shot shored up antibody levels, increasing them nearly 21-fold three weeks after they were administered and 8-fold at the four-week mark compared to the second initial dose, Forbes reports. But even though most people showed a significant immune response through eight weeks, results also found protection quickly dropped off after the third dose, showing that Omicron-specific antibody levels dropped 5.4-fold between the three-to-eight week window following the shot. Comparatively, antibody levels for the original COVID-19 virus and the Delta variant dropped 4.9-fold and 5.6-fold over the same period, respectively.

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The researchers conclude their results suggest older or immunocompromised people will likely need more boosters shots to shore up their protection from the virus in the future. However, the findings also shed more light on how COVID-19 boosters will be used in the general public beyond the third dose and how efficient it would be to readminister them regularly. While the neutralizing antibodies measured in the study represent one part of the immune defense mounted by the body, other elements such as T cells could provide long-term protection against serious illness, which is essentially the actual function of a vaccine, Forbes reports.

Still, some other recent research supports using additional shots to protect from the virus. Preliminary data from a study of just over 2,600 patients hospitalized with severe COVID across 14 medical centers in Israel during Omicron's surge shows that those givena fourth shot had a 49 percent lower chance of having a poorer outcome compared to those who had received their third booster dose five months before their COVID diagnosis, according to GlobalData Healthcare.

"Sementara desain penelitian membuatnya sulit untuk menentukan apakah dosis booster tambahan mengurangi keparahan COVID-19, itu menunjukkan bahwa dosis keempat dapat meningkatkan hasil klinis dan kemudian memiliki potensi untuk mengurangi jumlah rawat inap dan kematian," itu Para ahli menulis. "Dengan demikian, putaran tambahan vaksinasi booster mungkin merupakan respons yang tepat untuk menegakkan tren saat ini yang telah memicu pernyataan akhir pada fase pandemi Covid-19."AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

Saat ini, CDC merekomendasikan bahwa siapa pun yang berusia 50 atau lebih dan mereka yang sedang mengalami immunocompromised sedangmemenuhi syarat untuk tembakan keempat Empat bulan setelah menerima dosis booster pertama mereka. Beberapa pejabat A.S. telah memperingatkan bahwa tembakan tambahan dapat membantuHindari lonjakan lain Dalam kasus yang diantisipasi beberapa orang mungkin tiba musim gugur ini.

"Kita harus siap. Dan kita harus siap dengan vaksinasi, dengan booster ... itulah yang saya maksud ketika kita mengatakan kitatidak bisa meninggalkan penjaga kita. Meskipun, saat ini, kita tidak berada dalam fase fulminan wabah, kita masih di tengah pandemi, "kata penasihat Covid Gedung Putih Anthony Fauci, MD, selama wawancara 12 Mei 12 Mei dengan beritaJam sibuk. "Ada begitu banyak hal yang bisa dan harus kita lakukan untuk memastikan bahwa ini tidak berlangsung."

Baca ini selanjutnya:Dr. Fauci memperingatkan bahwa orang yang memvaksinasi "perlu menyadari" ini sekarang.