Homepage

Booster Shots Not Yet Necessary for General CNY Population COVID cases are increasing in CNY. Is it time to seek out booster shots?

By Carson Gambaro

GAMBARO: ON THE HEELS OF PRESIDENT BIDEN VIRALLY RECEIVING HIS COVID-19 BOOSTER SHOT, THE QUESTION BEGS: WILL CENTRAL NEW YORKERS SOON NEED ANOTHER VACCINATION DOSE? OVER THE PAST TWO MONTHS, COVID CASES HAVE BEEN STEADILY INCREASING. ONONDAGA COUNTY’S SEVEN DAY AVERAGE HAS JUMPED BY NEARLY TWO HUNDRED IN THAT TIMESPAN. THIS DATA SUGGESTS A GROWING POTENTIAL NEED FOR BOOSTER SHOTS. BUT ACCORDING TO COUNTY MEDICAL DIRECTOR QUOC NGUYEN, WE HAVEN’T REACHED THAT LEVEL YET.

NGUYEN: THE VACCINES ARE STILL DOING THEIR JOB OF PROTECTING US FROM BAD OUTCOMES AND DEATH. NOT A LOT OF VACCINES CAN STERILIZE THE ORGANISM. SO THAT’S WHERE WE ARE.

GAMBARO: SO FAR THE C-D-C HAS OPENED BOOSTER ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN GROUPS OF PFIZER RECIPIENTS. BUT WHY HASN’T THE SAME STEP BEEN TAKEN WITH THE JANSSEN AND MODERNA VACCINES?

NGUYEN: WE’VE BEEN USING THESE VACCINES FOR SUCH A SHORT TIME SO WE DON’T REALLY HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON HOW EFFICACIOUS THEY ARE.

GAMBARO: GIVEN THE CURRENT STATE OF THINGS IN CENTRAL NEW YORK, THERE’S LITTLE REASON TO SUGGEST THAT THE LOTS HERE AT THE FAIRGROUNDS ARE GOING TO BE FILLING UP ANYTIME SOON. INSTEAD, THE CHARGE TO VACCINATE INDIVIDUALS WILL BE LED BY LOCAL PHARMACY CLINICS AT PLACES LIKE KINNEY DRUGS AND WEGMANS. THE MULROY CIVIC CENTER IN DOWNTOWN SYRACUSE IS ALSO OFFERING WALK-IN VACCINATIONS ON TUESDAYS. BUT FOR NOW AS FAR AS BOOSTERS GO, THE GENERAL CENTRAL NEW YORK POPULATION SHOULD EXPECT MORE OF THE SAME. AND WHEN I ASKED DOCTOR NGUYEN ABOUT THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE, THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR SAID ULTIMATELY THE VIRUS WILL CHART THAT COURSE NO MATTER WHAT ACTIONS WE TAKE.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – A week ago, U.S. President Joe Biden posted a viral clip of him receiving a booster vaccine in the White House. The President did this in an attempt to mobilize vaccinations nationwide.

This recent move by Biden raises a significant question: will general populations soon need to follow suit?

According to Onondaga County Medical Director Dr. Quoc Nguyen, a longtime infectious disease expert, the current local vaccination levels are sufficient for the time being.

“I think the vaccines are still doing their job of protecting us from bad outcomes and death,” Dr. Nguyen says. “That’s where we are.”

Yes, infection rates have been on a rise over the past two months. But so have vaccination rates. According to the New York Times, the percentage of Onondaga County residents that are fully vaccinated has increased by nearly 7% in that period.

Of those who are already vaccinated, only Pfizer recipients that fall into the following categories have received eligibility for a booster: all adults (18+) who are essential/public health workers, living in high risk areas/situations or long-term care settings, immunocompromised, and senior citizens (65+). As of today, no official guidelines for either Johnson & Johnson or Moderna patients have been published. Chronologically, Pfizer was the first American company to begin rolling out immunization shots, so naturally it would get a bit of a head start on its counterparts. Regardless, each of the solutions are less than a year removed from their initial developments.

“We’ve been using these vaccines for such a short time,” the medical director says. “We really don’t have a good handle on how efficacious they are.”

If anything, the current situation suggests business-as-usual here in CNY. However, given the volatility of this virus, that may very well change at any given moment.

“Just like some experts say, [the future] depends a lot on the virus, it does not depend on us,” says Nguyen. “So we’ll keep on following the folks who have been vaccinated seriously to see when the protections start to wane.”

Related Articles