Thread by @PeterHotez

Many thanks ⁦@ErinBurnett⁩ for hosting me ⁦@OutFrontCNN⁩ on two important pieces of information related to 1) pediatric vaccinations for under 5 and 2) waning effectiveness for boosters

Regarding under 5 vaccinations we’ve known at the 3 microgram dose would require 3 doses in the 2-4 yo age group. The question is was there enough effectiveness with 2 doses to move forward now with expectation it would improve following the 3rd, especially bc of omicron storm

But @washingtonpost reported today that new data coming in last night gave the regulators pause on the effectiveness of 2 doses + omicron wave decelerating as fast as it went up, hence perhaps less urgency and therefore just wait for 3rd dose data in April

Regarding booster, we knew from @imperialcollege modeling back in December that protection from booster wanes after a few months and now we’ve repeated this in the US as reported in @CDCMMWR today. The question is, “now what”?

I feel we’ll likely move to a 4th dose strategy as I’ve already recommended for HCWs in my December @latimes opinion, while Israel also now gives 4th doses for immunocompromised and older ages. But does this mean booster every few months in perpetuity?

We need to first understand the basis of the declining effectiveness. Is it something specific to omicron or something more fundamental to the mRNA technology? I’ve recommended putting a task force or expert panel to help sort this out and whether we need to broaden our approach