Upstate doctor leading Pfizer vaccine trial says booster shot 'reasonable expectation'

SYRACUSE, NY — An Upstate Hospital physician working on a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine trial said booster shots could be a reasonable expectation for the future.

Dr. Stephen Thomas said it's not unusual for a vaccine's effectiveness to decrease over time. What will determine the need for a booster, and when it's needed, is how quickly that efficacy will decrease.

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Thomas said looking at similar viruses can give a benchmark, and studies suggest a booster will be needed at some point.

"The data that’s available in the public domain, at least with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, that at six months the vaccines are still highly efficacious," Thomas said. "So I think the only thing we can definitively say is at a six month time point the vaccines performance are persisting and its doing well.”

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said boosters could be needed within 8 to 12 months of getting the shot.

Current studies are also looking into the the relationship between booster shots and COVID-19 variants.