Anyone have any thoughts about someone already vaccinated with Pfizer getting a Pfizer booster or instead obtaining an additional shot of Moderna or J&J instead (or maybe in addition to?)? Thoughts about effectiveness, morality, risk, etc are appreciated. If it makes any difference to your thinking, I’m at elevated risk because of health issues.
I kind of feel like the mixing approach would be more effective, but to be honest I’ve not really had the time to keep up with much of anything except work for the past couple of months.
I have no moral concerns about consuming limited doses for boosters when many haven’t even had their first shot yet, especially if you have health issues. This is not zero-sum. More doses can be manufactured. Supply is not the main issue anymore. There are other problems stopping people from getting first doses that are mostly beyond your control. I do have some moral concerns about lying to get a treatment that is not authorized, but it may be the lesser of evils given your situation.
I have heard concerns about developing immunity to the adenovirus vector itself, eventually making boosters ineffective as well as limiting the use of said vector for future vaccines and gene therapy. There’s also a risk that one has been exposed to the natural virus already, making the initial dose less effective. If J&J is your only option, that shouldn’t stop you, but it’s not. The Pfizer and Moderna shots don’t have this issue since they’re delivered via lipid nanoparticles instead.
There’s no obvious functional difference between the Pfizer and Moderna versions. They work on the same principles: mRNA (coding for the spike protein) in a lipid vehicle. They were tested with differing dosing and schedules, have slightly different formulations, and different branding.
Moderna’s dose size is probably a little too high so it causes more severe side effects. But given the higher contagiousness of the now-prevalent Delta variant, a stronger reaction is probably a sign of better protection.
There is no plausible scientific reason (that I’ve heard of) not to boost with one of these two, regardless of what you started with (especially J&J, since it’s weaker), but the FDA is only authorizing regimens that have been tested to their satisfaction, and considering the expense of clinical trials, the pharmaceutical companies might not get around to testing mixed regimens with their competitors for a while, if at all.
I’m less certain about the rest of this comment.
The timing of the booster matters. Getting it a day after your second dose probably won’t do much. But if it’s six months after, it should have a stronger effect. But you might get infected in those six months. I don’t know what to recommend here.
I think that risks from the disease far outweigh the risks from the vaccine, even factoring in a 100% chance of getting a booster and only a 5% chance of getting the disease. Long COVID seems to happen sometimes even for mild infections, but perhaps unusual health conditions could change the calculation. Risks from the vaccine seem really overblown, and I don’t think a booster changes that.
Anyone have any thoughts about someone already vaccinated with Pfizer getting a Pfizer booster or instead obtaining an additional shot of Moderna or J&J instead (or maybe in addition to?)? Thoughts about effectiveness, morality, risk, etc are appreciated. If it makes any difference to your thinking, I’m at elevated risk because of health issues.
I kind of feel like the mixing approach would be more effective, but to be honest I’ve not really had the time to keep up with much of anything except work for the past couple of months.
I have no moral concerns about consuming limited doses for boosters when many haven’t even had their first shot yet, especially if you have health issues. This is not zero-sum. More doses can be manufactured. Supply is not the main issue anymore. There are other problems stopping people from getting first doses that are mostly beyond your control. I do have some moral concerns about lying to get a treatment that is not authorized, but it may be the lesser of evils given your situation.
I have heard concerns about developing immunity to the adenovirus vector itself, eventually making boosters ineffective as well as limiting the use of said vector for future vaccines and gene therapy. There’s also a risk that one has been exposed to the natural virus already, making the initial dose less effective. If J&J is your only option, that shouldn’t stop you, but it’s not. The Pfizer and Moderna shots don’t have this issue since they’re delivered via lipid nanoparticles instead.
There’s no obvious functional difference between the Pfizer and Moderna versions. They work on the same principles: mRNA (coding for the spike protein) in a lipid vehicle. They were tested with differing dosing and schedules, have slightly different formulations, and different branding.
Moderna’s dose size is probably a little too high so it causes more severe side effects. But given the higher contagiousness of the now-prevalent Delta variant, a stronger reaction is probably a sign of better protection.
There is no plausible scientific reason (that I’ve heard of) not to boost with one of these two, regardless of what you started with (especially J&J, since it’s weaker), but the FDA is only authorizing regimens that have been tested to their satisfaction, and considering the expense of clinical trials, the pharmaceutical companies might not get around to testing mixed regimens with their competitors for a while, if at all.
I’m less certain about the rest of this comment.
The timing of the booster matters. Getting it a day after your second dose probably won’t do much. But if it’s six months after, it should have a stronger effect. But you might get infected in those six months. I don’t know what to recommend here.
I think that risks from the disease far outweigh the risks from the vaccine, even factoring in a 100% chance of getting a booster and only a 5% chance of getting the disease. Long COVID seems to happen sometimes even for mild infections, but perhaps unusual health conditions could change the calculation. Risks from the vaccine seem really overblown, and I don’t think a booster changes that.