Second Covid-19 booster shots approved: Miller Report for April 5, ’22 (column)

Editor’s note: Dr. William Miller, chief of staff at the Adventist Health Mendocino Coast Hospital, is writing weekly reports concerning the COVID-19 situation on the Mendocino Coast. We are pleased to be running his health column, with details on the medical fight against the pandemic. The views shared in this weekly column are those of the author, Dr. William Miller, and do not necessarily represent those of The Mendocino Voice or of Adventist Health.

The FDA has approved the use of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines as a second booster last week. The scientific evidence supporting this decision is data from Israel which was the first country to authorize a second booster (fourth shot) at the end of last year. The Israeli Ministry of Health has followed over 700,000 of its citizens who received the second booster and has found no significant negative effects. The evidence also supports that a second booster raises levels of circulating antibody. This is felt to be beneficial in preventing serious illness and death primarily in people over 65 or over 50 who have high risk health conditions. The majority, 85%, of the Israelis in the study were over age 60.