WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:03.280 JUDY WOODRUFF: As we reported, the government's top public health agencies 00:03.280 --> 00:08.280 are making vaccine boosters available to anyone in the U.S. 18 years or older. 00:08.800 --> 00:13.600 As Stephanie Sy tells us, the change is aimed at helping during the winter months ahead. 00:13.600 --> 00:16.880 STEPHANIE SY: Judy, starting this weekend, 00:16.880 --> 00:21.880 boosters will now be available for any of the three federally approved vaccines. At least 00:22.560 --> 00:27.560 10 states had already made this change as COVID cases rise, up 33 percent in the last two weeks. 00:29.280 --> 00:31.280 For the moment, death rates are stable, 00:31.280 --> 00:35.600 but the country is still averaging more than 1, 100 deaths a day. 00:35.600 --> 00:38.960 For more on what we should know. I'm joined by Dr. Robert Wachter, 00:38.960 --> 00:43.280 chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. 00:43.280 --> 00:46.000 Dr. Wachter, thank you for joining us on the "NewsHour." 00:46.000 --> 00:47.040 Let's get right to it. 00:47.040 --> 00:51.840 Would you at this point advise every adult to get a booster shot, and why or why not? 00:51.840 --> 00:55.440 DR. ROBERT WACHTER, University of California, San Francisco: I would. I got mine a month or so ago. 00:55.440 --> 00:59.360 But I have advised my 28- and 30-year-old healthy children to get them as well. 01:00.080 --> 01:03.360 The boosters do three things. First of all, we now know that the efficacy of 01:03.360 --> 01:06.960 the original shots does wane, starts waning at about five months and wanes 01:07.520 --> 01:12.160 more the more time goes on. And the boosters do three things. One is, 01:12.160 --> 01:16.880 they prevent mild infections, but mild infections can lead to long COVID. 01:16.880 --> 01:21.760 The second is, they can prevent severe infections, which can lead to hospitalization and death. And 01:21.760 --> 01:25.840 the third is, they keep the community safer. They decrease the amount of COVID in the community. 01:25.840 --> 01:28.960 STEPHANIE SY: Isn't it still, though, Dr. Wachter, 01:28.960 --> 01:33.960 the unvaccinated that are most at risk, not only for severe COVID, but behind community spread? 01:34.800 --> 01:37.040 DR. ROBERT WACHTER: No question about it. 01:37.040 --> 01:42.040 And, early on, people said, well, we should really concentrate on vaccinating the unvaccinated. 01:42.320 --> 01:47.040 And when I heard that, I would say, what exactly does that mean? What are we not doing 01:47.040 --> 01:51.920 to try to get the unvaccinated vaccinated? We have done everything I think we can humanly 01:51.920 --> 01:54.960 possibly do. There are enough shots for everyone. 01:54.960 --> 01:58.560 So, at this point, I think we can walk and chew bubblegum. I think we have to continue 01:58.560 --> 02:01.680 to concentrate on trying to get people to get vaccinated in the first place, 02:01.680 --> 02:06.080 but we also have to protect everyone else. And if you're un -- if you're vaccinated, 02:06.080 --> 02:09.200 but you're more than six months out, your level of protection is 02:09.200 --> 02:13.680 now somewhere between fully vaccinated and unvaccinated, so it's time to boost it up. 02:13.680 --> 02:17.760 STEPHANIE SY: So let's talk about the efficacy of the booster shot and when it kicks in. 02:17.760 --> 02:22.080 Does getting the booster shot, Dr. Wachter, mean you won't get COVID-19? 02:22.080 --> 02:24.720 And will we have to get booster shots every six months? 02:24.720 --> 02:29.200 DR. ROBERT WACHTER: Well, the vaccines aren't perfect, although these -- I think we forget. 02:29.200 --> 02:32.080 We have gotten used to it. These are extraordinarily effective. 02:32.080 --> 02:35.520 What the booster does is take -- if you remember those original efficacy numbers 02:35.520 --> 02:40.520 of 95 percent effective in preventing cases of COVID, that number had waned to 50 or 60 percent. 02:42.560 --> 02:47.200 The boosters bump you back up to at least 95 percent. You're probably even a little bit better 02:47.920 --> 02:52.800 protected than you were after your two shots. They are miraculously effective. 02:54.000 --> 02:57.840 How long does it take before they kick in? It looks like about a week. So, 02:57.840 --> 03:01.360 a week after you have gotten your booster, you're back up to a level of protection 03:01.360 --> 03:04.400 that was similar to the level you had two weeks after your second shot. 03:05.040 --> 03:09.680 When will we need another shot? I think we will know when we know. Unfortunately, 03:09.680 --> 03:14.680 there's no way of knowing. Because these shots waned in six months does not necessarily mean 03:14.800 --> 03:18.480 that the booster will wane in six months. Because we have had a lag in time, 03:18.480 --> 03:23.200 it gave the immune system more time to kind of mature. And so there's a good chance that we might 03:23.200 --> 03:27.920 need one every year or two years, but I think we will only know as we see what happens over time. 03:27.920 --> 03:29.360 STEPHANIE SY: Sure. 03:29.360 --> 03:33.680 As we head into the holidays, though, Doctor, people are expected to gather. 03:33.680 --> 03:37.040 If you have a booster shot, should you feel comfortable 03:37.040 --> 03:41.760 not wearing a mask around your grandparents again, shopping at the mall without a mask? 03:41.760 --> 03:45.600 DR. ROBERT WACHTER: Well, the way I approach life, Stephanie, is that, 03:45.600 --> 03:50.600 now that I have gotten my booster, I am perfectly comfortable hanging around in indoor spaces 03:51.680 --> 03:56.680 with other people who are fully vaccinated and, if they're eligible, who've also gotten a booster. 03:57.280 --> 04:00.720 Anything other than that, hanging around with unvaccinated people 04:00.720 --> 04:03.840 or people whose shots were nine months ago and who have not gotten a booster, 04:03.840 --> 04:08.400 I'm a little more careful. I would wear a mask in those circumstances. If you can't, like you're 04:08.400 --> 04:12.800 having Thanksgiving dinner together with them, I think that's a good use of the rapid tests. 04:12.800 --> 04:16.000 So, if someone's unvaccinated or someone's 10 months out from their shots and hasn't 04:16.000 --> 04:20.000 gotten a booster, I think it's reasonable to test them that morning. If they're negative, 04:20.000 --> 04:24.720 you can be quite confident they're not infectious that day. And so that makes it safer. 04:24.720 --> 04:29.720 But I think the rule is, vaccinated plus booster, if you're eligible, you are really 04:29.840 --> 04:33.120 good to go. And if you're hanging out with other people like that, you really are quite safe. 04:33.120 --> 04:35.680 STEPHANIE SY: Really appreciate that clear advice. 04:35.680 --> 04:40.680 Dr. Robert Wachter, the chair of the Department of Medicine at U.C. San Francisco, thank you. 04:41.120 --> 04:41.840 DR. ROBERT WACHTER: Thank you.