Should U.S. expats in Mexico feel ethically compromised if they rush home to get “booster” Covid vaccine jabs after U.S. health authorities said this week that Americans will be eligible for a second round of shots from September 20?
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that the protection that vaccines provide against mild and moderate disease decreases over time.Also, data from the Mayo Clinic shows that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have less effectiveness against the Delta variant, which is now rampant in many U.S. states, and infecting large swaths of unvaccinated Americans.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said current evidence does not support the view that booster jabs are needed at this time, and questioned the morality of rich nations that are administering, or planning to administer, a third dose, when residents in many countries have yet to receive their first one.
“We’re planning to hand out extra lifejackets to people who already have lifejackets, while we’re leaving other people to drown without a single lifejacket,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, the director of the WHO’s health emergency program.
President Joe Biden has said the distribution of U.S.-manufactured vaccines to poorer nations will not be affected by giving booster jabs to U.S. citizens.
Some immunologists say people over 60 years old with weakened immune systems should get booster jabs, since their response to initial shots may be far from optimum.