A medical worker injects a man with a dose of COVID-19 vaccine on a mobile vaccination vehicle outside the Donghua Gate of the Palace Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 13, 2021. The bus-like facilities, equipped with vaccination stations, medical refrigerators and first-aid equipment, have been rolled out in different districts of Beijing to save time and improve inoculation efficiency.(Photo: Xinhua)

A leading expert from China's national vaccine development team said that it is possible that people have to receive COVID-19 vaccines annually to boost immunity, but whether it is necessary to do so requires further analysis. 

Shao Yiming, China's leading physician-scientist and immunologist serving at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press conference on Wednesday that global authorities and vaccine producers have been collecting and analyzing data over the past half year of the application of COVID-19 vaccines.

A final analysis of the data will decide whether it is necessary to receive vaccines against the novel coronavirus annually, like flu shots, he said. 

Shao's remarks came amid growing doubts and discussions over COVID-19 vaccine efficacy in real life, as several leading global COVID-19 vaccine producers have said that a third shot or annual vaccination may be needed to maintain immunity against COVID-19.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said people will "likely" need a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated and it's possible people will need to get vaccinated against the coronavirus annually, according to a CNBC report on April 15. 

Citing the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CNN reported on April 15 that 5,800 Americans have caught COVID-19 and 74 have died from the virus out of 66 million who have received the full dose of a vaccine in the US, which is reportedly the first indication from CDC of how effective the COVID-19 vaccine is in real life. 

Shao noted Wednesday that no vaccine can be 100 percent effective, and some recipients will get infected after vaccination. The most important thing is to prevent hospitalization, serious symptoms and deaths, against which most existing COVID-19 vaccines can be more than 80 percent effective.

The Chilean health authority released a report on the usage of Chinese company Sinovac Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine in the real world on April 16, which showed that the vaccine is 67 percent effective in preventing symptomatic infection and 80 percent effective in preventing deaths. 

The Chilean government's report is based on data from tens of millions of recipients, making it the world's most complete report on the usage of a COVID-19 vaccine so far. It further demonstrated that China's vaccine is very effective not only in preventing infections, but also in preventing serious symptoms and deaths, Shao noted.   

Global Times