Southern California recipients of a COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination site in Disneyland’s parking lot in January. For strongest immunity, be sure to get both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, says the CDC’s new head. She also says stretching the interval between shots to six weeks can be OK “in rare circumstances.”Mario Tama/Getty Imageshide captiontoggle captionMario Tama/Getty ImagesSouthern California recipients of a COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination site in Disneyland’s parking lot in January. For strongest immunity, be sure to get both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, says the CDC’s new head. She also says stretching the interval between shots to six weeks can be OK “in rare circumstances.”Mario Tama/Getty ImagesAs the virus that causes COVID-19 continues its global attack, it has done what scientists predicted it would do — it’s given rise to new, slightly different strains. How significant some of those strains will be to the pandemic is now under intense study. Meanwhile, demand for the currently available vaccines is outstripping the early supply, and some scientists have sparked controversy by suggesting holding off on booster shots until more people have had their initial shots. That’s something the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not endorse — but the agency has extended the timing on the second dose a bit. What does this all mean for you? Let’s start with the question of second doses. Why do the manufacturers and CDC advise two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines? Simply put, because that’s what was tested — Pfizer BioNTech went for a 21-day interval in its large trial, and Moderna went for 28 days. The companies wanted the highest chance of success; while a one-dose shot would be easier to administer, two-shot vaccinations offered the insurance that if the first shot wasn’t enough, the second one could finish the job. It’s the two-jab immunization that has been shown to be 94% or 95% effective in preventing symptoms of COVID-19. How protective one dose of these vaccines would be over the long run remains unknown. A Moderna spokesperson told The Hill in late December that it expected the double dose would produce the most durable immunity and was not considering a trial of a single dose. How does my protection build after the first shot and after the second? The two vaccines currently authorized in the U. S. — Moderna’s and Pfizer’s — are based on helping your immune system recognize certain proteins in the virus’ outer coat. “That stimulates the immune system to make antibodies, and it also stimulates other parts of your immune system,” says Gigi Gronvall, an immunologist with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Those protective antibodies are relatively easy to measure in blood samples, and studies have shown them increasing in quantity a week or so after someone gets their first dose of vaccine.
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