The following blog, titled “COVID-19: Third Dose Vaccines,” was written by Clay Marsh, MD, West Virginia COVID-19 czar and vice president and executive dean for WVU Health Sciences:
There is a lot of confusion about the role of a third vaccine, or extra doses, for Americans and West Virginians and the potency of vaccines given late 2020 or early 2021.
First of all, let me try to be clear on what we know, what we believe, and what we do not know about this issue.
What we know
We know that vaccines are the treatment that saves lives, amazingly well and remarkably consistent. That is right – I said treatment. I was asked why we are not working on more treatments for COVID-19, and I said, “We have a treatment that, two weeks after the last dose, gives over 90% protection from becoming infected from COVID-19 and over 95% effective in preventing severe disease.”
That is exactly what the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna do.
In this way, they are among the most effective vaccines ever made. Like gifts to protect us. But only if we use them. That is what is so tragic today.
We have the answer to the most important problem that is acutely affecting our entire world – COVID-19.
We know that vaccinations are the cornerstone of our treatment strategy and that the unvaccinated are at much higher risk of severe consequences of COVID-19 than fully vaccinated West Virginians and Americans, irrespective of how long it has been since your vaccination.
We also know from real-world data coming largely from Israel and, to a lesser degree, from the United Kingdom, we know that six months or more after the second vaccination, there is a loss of some potency of the vaccines.
Read the entire blog online >>>