Nobody knows if a COVID booster will be needed

By Terry Murry on Tuesday, May 4th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

PENDLETON – The COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out quickly to fight the pandemic. Now the testing to see how long they’ll last is underway. Umatilla County Public Health Officer Dr. Jon Hitzman said that so far, it’s known the shots are effective for six months.

“Those studies are not over,” he stressed. “This is just their six-month data. What they’re going to do is that they’re going to keep following the same people and they’re going to come up with a number eventually.”

Hitzman said until the studies are complete, the efficacy of the vaccine is unknown.

“The CEO of Pfizer has predicted that there will probably be an annual booster shot, but at this point in time that was just his hypothesis,” he said. “We don’t really know yet.”