COVID

Dr. Megan Ranney: ‘You can wait’ on second booster — unless you’re immunosuppressed

The emergency physician weighs in on second boosters, masking in schools, and vaccination for young children.

A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine injection by a pharmacist at a clinic in Lawrence, on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021. Charles Krupa/AP Photo

By Marta Hill

2 minutes to read

Following the release of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that showed some waning of booster effectiveness after four months, Dr. Megan Ranney said on CNN’s “The Lead” that it’s still not time for everyone to rush to get another booster.

“The only group that at this point I would recommend a fourth shot for are the immunosuppressed, those folks who are unlikely to have manufactured adequate antibodies after their first, second, or third shots,” said Ranney, an emergency physician and associate dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.  

For everybody else, Ranney said it’s “too soon to go out and get another booster,” but that people should continue to mask when in public, especially where cases are relatively high.

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The CDC release concerning booster effectiveness showed that during omicron, vaccines were 91% effective against hospitalization in the first two months and 78% effective four months or more after a third dose.

In the Feb. 14 broadcast of “The Lead,” Ranney also addressed the delay in Pfizer’s request for FDA approval of its vaccine for small children, and school mask mandates. 

Mask mandates in schools in some places are set to expire over the next few weeks, including in Massachusetts. Some people have been wary of lifting protections such as masks in schools, especially in those with low vaccination rates.

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“By the time that most of these school mask mandates do get lifted, which is in most states two to four weeks from now, I think the cases are going to be quite low,” Ranney said. “Even in schools with low vaccination rates of kids, I think it’s going to be safe for kids to be in school without masks.”

Last week, the FDA paused its review process for Pfizer’s vaccine for young children saying the agency was going to wait for data about a third shot. Pfizer said in a statement that it expected the data by early April.

“Although this wait is unbelievably frustrating — as a parent myself I get how tough and annoying and anger filled the parents must feel who are parents of those under 5 — [but] at the same time, this wait allows us to be sure that these vaccines once approved are both safe and that they work, and that’s just the most important thing,” Ranney said.

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