"Clearly, the pharmaceutical companies have an economic incentive, particularly the ones who have vaccines that are for profit," Barouch said. "We want the decision to be made based on public health solely and [not] on economic incentives of the companies."
PHOTO: Larcetta Linear receives the Covid-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination center at the Tinley Park Convention Center on Jan. 26, 2021 in Tinley Park, Ill. Antibody titers, a blood test that determines the level of antibodies in the blood, could also be a clinical indicator of whether a booster is necessary. However, we should not be overly reliant on them as a metric, because antibodies are just one factor in our overall immunity.
"We wouldn't create a booster, I think, against the variant that appeared only occasionally, even if it did evade the protection of the vaccine," he said. "It would have to be a variant that looks like it's causing more illness, and as a consequence, more hospitalizations."