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Comment by cdolan | Hacker News Reader

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I don't know why the original comment is being downvoted. It is not a conspiracy theory to assume that we need booster shots. Is it not like our situation with the flu?

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/15/pfizer-ceo-says-third-covid-...

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/22/covid-booster-shots-coronavi...

The news of this new study just came out today. Give the guy a break.

There is simply no evidence we will need booster shots.

It's hard to determine that as a laymen when you have the CEO of Pfizer (who is likely being advised by Pfizer's own researchers) saying, "A likely scenario is that there will be likely a need for a third dose, somewhere between six and 12 months and then from there, there will be an annual revaccination, but all of that needs to be confirmed. And again, the variants will play a key role"

> Is it not like our situation with the flu?

No, as other commenters pointed out coronaviruses are different from the flu viruses in that they cannot mutate as easily as flu does. Hence it is possible that booster shots will not be required.

That also doesn't mean that that there's no longer a decent chance of immune escape. Before this research came out, it was a reasonable position to think that we needed boosters. It is NOT a conspiracy theory.

If you read any of the articles I've cited one of them has the CEO of Pfizer stating that we will likely need a yearly booster shot.

> Is it not like our situation with the flu?

Nope, and for the same reason COVID deniers who claimed "it's just like the flu" in the beginning were wrong.

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