SALT LAKE CITY – As of Thursday, 714,049 Utahns have been vaccinated against COVID-19. But of these, only 394,004 are fully vaccinated.
This means that 320,045 Utahns have yet another chance, as long as they receive one of the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna; both require two doses to get the maximum effect. A third vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, which has recently been approved for use, requires only one dose.
An AstraZeneca vaccine, probably the next one approved for widespread use in the United States, also requires two doses.
But how much does it really matter to get the second dose of the vaccine? After all, scientists agree that getting a dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine will create some degree of immunity, introduce the body to a virus it didn’t know before, and start the process of creating antibodies.
Two doctors who spoke to KSL.com on Thursday urged Utahns to end the course of the vaccine, though they said it is critical that the state develop the immunity of the flock it seeks before removing all coronavirus-related restrictions. .
“Almost 100%” effectiveness
Dr Tamara Sheffield, Intermountain Healthcare’s director of community prevention and community health, said it’s not uncommon for vaccines of all kinds to require more than one dose.
“Most vaccines will have multiple doses, in a series, in order to stimulate the immune response,” Sheffield said. “The first year a child gets the flu shot, he needs two doses because he hadn’t been exposed to the flu shot in the past.” It was after that that when patients receive the annual flu vaccine they only need one dose at a time, Sheffield added.
The second dose of the coronavirus vaccine creates a greater and more effective immune response and also makes the response last longer. Human memory “T” cells, Sheffield said, are the ones that create long-lasting virus prevention and may require more than one exposure to activate.
Estimates vary, but the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine after a dose is believed to be approximately 52%, according to its own data. After the second dose, this jumps to about 95%, an almost unprecedented level of protection for modern vaccines, doctors say.
Dr. Emily Spivak, an infectious disease physician at the University of Utah Health, said complete vaccines are “almost 100%” effective in preventing serious cases of the disease.
“People sink, so it’s 70% effective … compared to 90%,” Spivak said. But they all prevent serious effects of the disease almost completely, and that’s the important part, he said.
“I think regardless of the numbers, the real food at home is that you can get COVID-19, and I’ve seen it several times, between the first and second dose,” Spivak said. He encouraged Utahns to stay alert even a week or two after receiving his second dose.
“I doubt people get obsessed with the actual number (is it 70, or is it 50?), Because the answer is that both doses make it extremely effective. Like never seen before, except maybe the measles.”
Officials recommend that the two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine be taken 21 days apart and that the Modern doses be taken 28 days apart. Sheffield and Spivak said it would probably not be okay to wait a little longer, but recommend that Utahns avoid a second dose too soon.
Mutations and asymptomatic spread
Sheffield said there are two other big reasons why Utahns should receive their second dose.
The first concerns the immunity of the herd. He said people who are only partially vaccinated and partially protected can become involuntary vectors of virus transmission. They could be protected from symptoms, Sheffield said, while still passing the coronavirus to other people.
“When you are partially protected, you may still have the disease, even if you can get it, but you may not feel the symptoms,” he said. “So you may be more likely to be a distributor.”
Partially vaccinated people are also more likely to create new viral mutations, Sheffield explained, such as those that originated in Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Getting just one dose of a two-shot vaccine creates a “partial or weak” immune response, similar to what happens to an immunocompromised individual, Sheffield said.
“Those individuals who have a weaker immune response tend to be the ones who receive runaway mutations,” he said. “Viruses that mutate easily, as does the coronavirus: a partially immune individual is one in which these mutations are more likely to survive, because they are different and the immune system does not catch them. Therefore, they proliferate.
“While the normal virus you will be able to control, the mutated virus does not control it either.”
For these reasons and many more, Spivak asked Utahns to take his second dose of vaccine if necessary. “Please, please definitely stick with the recommendations,” he said. “Get your second dose.”