Investigate!

For the first unit of Journalism we investigated fake news and how to distinguish the difference between that and "real news." We talked to Julie Wernau from the Wall Street Journal, mainly we talked about the Coronavirus pandemic and the way disinformation has spread over the course of the pandemic. For this Action Project we had to write an investigative article about an occurrence that is currently affecting our communities. I chose to write about booster shots for the coronavirus vaccines and if they were necessary.

        Booster shots have been a widespread topic for months, despite hesitancy and straight rejection from individuals around the country. KE took the Pfizer vaccine in March 2021. When asked if they would be willing to get a third shot if recommended by the CDC, they said, “Well I already got both shots, and I didn’t grow a third eye, or have any mutation, so I don’t see why not”

AE was a part of the Johnson & Johnson trials back in December 2020, and received the vaccine. When asked if they would get a second shot if Johnson & Johnson offered, AE responded, “I’m not always a big fan of the government, but I trust them on this one.” 

Even though both of  these people are willing to get an extra dose of the Covid vaccine, there is still widespread misinformation and skepticism surrounding the booster shots. Since early August, there has been talk of giving out booster shots of the Covid-19 vaccine, mainly due to the rise in delta variant cases that have been spreading rapidly. Reuters states that the reasoning behind this decision is because of “diminishing protection from the vaccines over time.”

Dr. E. John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania said, “It is going to top off the antibodies a little bit, they increase your protection slightly, and it really doesn’t have a considerable downside, because if you didn’t have a severe adverse event after two doses, the likelihood of having a severe adverse event after a third dose is much lower.”

In short, he is saying that there is no harm in getting a third vaccination shot. He explained that it should be necessary for immunocompromised people; as stated, though the increase in protection is slight, it is still worth the extra precaution. 

Though the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are 95% effective against the virus, there’s still 5% of the population that can catch the original strain. With roughly 200 million people fully vaccinated, that means that around 10 million people will still get Covid, regardless of vaccination. 

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky noted an “increased risk of severe disease amongst those vaccinated early.” Basing this on a data set from Israel suggesting the waning of the vaccine’s effectiveness.

One might be wondering, what about those who got the Johnson & Johnson? In the Center for Disease Control’s FAQ  about the Covid vaccine, there is not enough data yet to decide on a second dose for J & J. Due to the delay in the rollout. Those who received a J&J shot will likely need a second one.

 

In a press release from Mathai Mammen, the Johnson & Johnson global head of Janssen Research & Development, said, “We have established that a single shot of our COVID-19 vaccine generates strong and robust immune responses; that are durable and persistent through eight months.”

He continued, “With these new data, we also see that a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among study participants who had previously received our vaccine.”

According to the CDC, those who would have the booster shots are first available to those most at risk. After that, their goal is to roll out booster shots for people to get their booster eight months after getting their second shot of the  Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.  

All in all, booster shots are a necessity for those willing to take it. Even if one is perfectly healthy, a third shot will help strengthen the antibodies as the virus begins to mutate into different variants. The vaccines are working. There is no harm in taking the extra precaution of keeping one and their family healthy and safe.

Initially, I thought vaccines were only necessary for certain groups of people, and they are; however, it is best if we all take boosters to up the antibodies in the system. I wish I could've written my article about something different, but I couldn't really find anything else to write about that was current to my community. Overall, I am satisfied with the outcome of my AP because I found it interesting to read about medical professionals' recommendations for the vaccines.