(WXYZ) — Fully vaccinated people will soon need another booster shot later this year as more variants are expected to pop up in the future.
43-year-old Ryan Johnson is fully vaxed as well as boosted and getting back to his normal life was one of the biggest motivations behind getting the vaccine. That's why a 4th dose would be a no-brainer.
"I'll take it today if it was available, I mean whatever it takes to eradicate this whole mess," said Ryan Johnson, Engineer at GM.
And just like Ryan, Erika Gunaca a fitness instructor is also ready to put the pandemic behind her.
"We’ve seen the numbers go down, and I know just coming from a fitness person, teaching kickboxing I’ve been able to actually do that in person, and not virtually," said Erika Gunaca, fitness instructor.
The last time Erika took the booster, she got infected, but even then she is determined to fight the virus by taking another dose.
Dr. Sims from Beaumont Health says at present the 4th dose is recommended for people who are immunosuppressed and for others, medical professionals are waiting for more clarity as drugmakers like Pfizer are getting ready to submit support data to the FDA.
"It may be that what we really need is the Omicron variant vaccine, and Pfizer said they are working on a universal vaccine, one that will cover all the variants," said Dr. Matthew Sims, Chief of Infectious Disease Research, Beaumont Health.
As for how many shots we will need to defeat the virus, Dr. Sims says it all depends on how fast we reach cellular-based protection instead of relying on antibodies. But that may take some time.
"Part of the problem is the virus keeps changing," said Dr. Matthew Sims, Chief of Infectious Disease Research, Beaumont Health.
But even then, Dr. Sims says the COVID vaccine is one of the best he has seen.
"The amount of protection it gives is mind-boggling. The FDA set a requirement that should give at least 50 percent protection and against the original strains it gave 95% protection," said Dr. Matthew Sims, Chief of Infectious Disease Research, Beaumont Health.
Even with new variants coming out, Dr. Sims says people should still get vaccinated and boosted is because that’s what’s going to prevent you from getting sick enough to end up in the hospital or worse dying.