Day 790: Two Shots are Better Than Four

Even the New York Times is pessimistic about a fourth shot (2nd booster) for anyone but the seriously ill or seriously old, but the Wall Street Journal one-ups them by dissing the first booster, too:

The FDA reportedly will authorize (but not recommend) the fourth shot for patients over 50. But if your immune system is healthy, three or even two doses of these mRNA vaccines should be sufficient.

Vaccine-induced protection against infection is short-lived and doesn’t get much of a boost from extra shots. Yet the initial two-dose regimen is enough to provide most patients excellent protection against severe disease—mediated by durable cellular responses, not the neutralizing antibodies that rise and wane quickly after vaccination.

Speaking of shots, the Chinese went gunning for Fido briefly, then allegedly backed off.

P.S. Massachusetts cases were up almost a tenth of a percentage point today.