How COVID-19 booster shots could help in global fight against the virus

With new mutations of COVID-19 emerging worldwide, scientists and vaccine manufacturers are testing booster shots specifically designed to fight these new variants.

With over a third of the United States population now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, scientists hope to preserve this newly acquired immunity as the pandemic continues. Now, researchers are exploring whether we might all need booster shots in the coming months and years in order to maintain immunity or to protect against newly emerging variants. "The goal is to prevent future outbreaks -- not react to them," said Dr. Thaddeus Stappenbeck, chair of the department of inflammation & immunity at Cleveland Clinic. The Biden administration said during a Senate hearing Tuesday that the government has enough funding to buy booster shots if needed. "There could be two reasons why booster shots may be needed," said Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The first is the "natural waning" of vaccine immunity, and the second is that new variants could emerge that might not be fully covered by the current vaccines, he said.