Covid-19 infection that occur in people who are fully vaccinated. Because of this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently endorsed a second booster shot for individuals 50 years of age and older and people who are immunocompromised.
Other countries including Israel, the UK and South Korea have also approved a second booster. However, it has become increasingly clear that the second booster does not provide long-lasting protection against breakthrough infections.
As a result, it will be necessary to retool the existing vaccines to increase the duration of protection in order to help bring the pandemic to an end.
As immunologists studying immune response to infections and other threats, we are trying to better understand the vaccine booster-induced immunity against Covid-19. Activating longer-term immunity It's a bit of a medical mystery: Why are mRNA vaccines so successful in preventing the serious form of Covid-19 but not so great at protecting against breakthrough infections?