NIH director says Israeli data shows usefulness of COVID-19 boosters

NIH director says Israeli data builds case for COVID-19 boosters National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said Tuesday that data from Israel on vaccine effectiveness waning over time helps show the need for booster shots eight months after initial Peter Sullivan TheHill

National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said Tuesday that data from Israel on vaccine effectiveness waning over time helps show the need for booster shots eight months after initial vaccination.

Collins's comments largely confirmed what was first reported by The New York Times late Monday night, that the Biden administration is poised to recommend booster shots after eight months. ...

Looking at data from Israel, "unsurprisingly, vaccine protection does gradually wane over time," Collins said.

"And so in the Israeli data the people who got immunized in January are the ones that are now having more breakthrough cases," he added. "Mostly of course these are symptomatic but not serious, but you're starting to see a little bit of a trend towards some of those requiring hospitalization." ...

The World Health Organization has called on wealthy countries to hold off on giving boosters until more people around the world, including health care workers in many countries, can receive their first shots. ...