More adding support for delayed 2nd dose strategy. @mtosterholm + @mlipsitch are supportive. Early calls to consider this (notably op-ed by @michaelmina_lab + @zeynep in mid-Dec) were too quickly dismissed by some, IMO.
It's a race against new variants.https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/02/experts-tout-delaying-2nd-covid-vaccine-dose-us-deaths-mount …
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Replying to @j_g_allen @mtosterholm and
Dismissed, heh. Got a lot of "how dare you", too. If we had started then—randomizing among those who'd already had a single shot in trials and also after the EUA—we'd have a lot more data-driven clarity now on how best to proceed.
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Replying to @zeynep @j_g_allen and
I remain worried that this is happening either by overly-broad strategy (everyone is delayed equally, UK) or by fiat (not putting enough effort into tracking people for boosters) and may disproportionately impact the elderly—who probably have less leeway.
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Replying to @zeynep @j_g_allen and
(Also is three weeks too short for a robust response? It increasingly seems that non-standard interval was chosen mostly to speed up trials. Randomizing three weeks and, say, five or six weeks and comparing outcomes might be useful and seems pretty low risk?).
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Replying to @zeynep @j_g_allen and
Very low risk. The immune system isn’t going to drop off a cliff at 28 days. Nor at 45 or 60 days.
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Replying to @michaelmina_lab @j_g_allen and
Right. What I'm hearing—and would like some clarity and data on—is that the Pfizer three week interval is mostly an artifact of trying to speed up trials and may be too short for the best response (even if there were no shortage). Dunno. Anyway WHO/CDC both say six weeks okay.
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But where I am, where about half the elderly in the state remains unvaccinated with long waitlists (where they exist) and a very confusing appointment system, the providers are automatically scheduling people for Pf boosters in three weeks. (BUT NO RESOURCES TO TRACK THEM.)
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