Want A Third Dose Of COVID Vaccine? Dr. Mallika Marshall Says Wait
BOSTON (CBS) -- Vaccination sites in Massachusetts are not supposed to be giving additional doses of the COVID vaccines to people who are already fully vaccinated, but there are reports of some people going out and getting additional shots anyhow.
That is not a good idea.
The CDC will likely recommend additional doses for people with weakened immune systems, for example. But for the rest of us, additional doses are not recommended just yet, for a few reasons.
First of all, we don't know how beneficial they would be at this time. Yes, you might get a boost in antibodies initially, but we don't know if that's necessary. Antibody levels tend to fade over time, but that doesn't mean the vaccines don't continue to work through other immune system actions. In fact, we think the vaccines continue to work well past six months.
Studies are currently being done to see whether boosters would be helpful, confirming whether it's safe to mix and match different vaccines, and to evaluate whether you might get more serious side effects from an additional dose.
So until we know more, sneaking out and getting another shot right now, may not help you, and could potentially harm you. We will know much more in the coming weeks.
