Dr. Stephanie Silvera Comments on Need of 2nd COVID Booster
Posted in: College News and Events, Master of Public Health News, Public Health
Who should get a second booster? What are experts advising?
Experts have been closely monitoring data coming out of Israel, which was proactive in giving boosters once residents received their two primary series vaccination doses.
Dr. Stephanie Silvera, Professor in the Public Health Department, noted that Israel’s data shows that “antibody levels start to wane. And so having a second booster increases those antibody levels back to essentially, or close to, where they were.”
She added, “The other part of this that’s important is that people who had the booster during the omicron (surge) — that third dose during omicron — were much less likely to die if they were infected. So right now if we’re looking at a more vulnerable group — people who are 50 and older — making sure that their antibody levels stay higher or high enough to protect them against severe illness is really the direction that we’re trying to take.”