When Will We Need to Get Our COVID Boosters?

Photo by Hakan Nural on Unsplash

Many of us still haven’t got our vaccine against COVID-19. I’m still waiting to be eligible to make an appointment myself.

But people are already talking about boosters. The media is full of stories about how we’re going to need to get a COVID-19 shot every year. This is being presented as a horrible doomsday scenario.

Of course, it really isn’t, adding another vaccine to the adult schedule is annoying, but hardly apocalyptic.

But how likely is it that we’ll need boosters?

There are two reasons why people need booster shots:

1. Immunity wanes over time, especially if you aren’t being regularly exposed to the pathogen.
2. Viruses mutate.

So, let’s take both of these and see what we know for COVID-19.

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

How Long Does Vaccine-Induced Immunity Last?

With COVID-19 it appears that vaccine-induced immunity is better than that gained from natural exposure (this is not always the case).