Covid vaccination: Should we need a third vaccine shot to curb the spread of coronavirus pandemic?

It was in November 2019 that the first case of coronavirus was detected in a Wuhan seafood market, China. At that time, no medical expert in the world foresaw that this infectious disease will emerge as a global pandemic. And now, to curb the spread of the pandemic and to protect the people from the deadly infection, countries are rolling out their vaccination programs. Two shots of coronavirus vaccine are recommended for people now, and countries like the United States have given permission for people to lead a normal life if they are fully vaccinated. As vaccination programs are progressing steadily, a clinical trial has now begun in the United Kingdom to determine whether a third dose of the Covid vaccine will give people better protection against the pandemic. 

The third shot of the coronavirus vaccine

The new clinical trial will also help experts to understand how different vaccines will work together. The new trial has begun in the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. 

In an article written on BBC, Dr. John Wright of Bradford Royal Infirmary gives an insight on how this new clinical trial will work. In the article, Wright explained how different vaccines will give protection against various infections. 

Certain vaccines that include the vaccine against hepatitis will work for a lifetime. However, vaccines for polio and tetanus will need boosters to raise the immunity of people. When it comes to influenza, vaccines are developed every autumn to protect against the latest three of four flu virus strains that are expected to be dominant in every winter season. 

"Covid has been with us for such a short time that we are still learning how long our immunity lasts after infection - and after vaccination. It seems highly likely that, as with flu jabs, we will need boosters of the Covid vaccine every year to protect against winter surges and to protect against new variants. What we don't know is which vaccine will provide the best protection," wrote Wright in the BBC article. 

Coronavirus to become an endemic

Prof Alex Brown who is leading the clinical trial claimed that these new studies could help to understand more about the coronavirus pandemic. The expert revealed that the trial will test seven different options including the Covid vaccines developed by AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Novavax, and Janssen vaccines, some of which will be administered at half-dose. 

"People seem to think that the end of lockdown is the end, but it's not, you need to have top-ups and constant monitoring. In the end, it will be endemic rather than a pandemic," added Brown.