GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- Researchers have found that both the Moderna and the Phizer vaccination start to lose some of their effectiveness after six months. And with the emergence of the Delta variant, there's a lot of unknowns in terms of how long a vaccination will offer protection.
"We don't know what the time cut-off level is. You really won't know that until you reached it," says Dr. Ashok Rai the President and CEO of Prevea Health.
Dr. Rai says booster shots for those who have already received their first round of vaccinations are likely a ways out.
"We wouldn't know what dose to give you today. Especially, if you completed a two-shot series."
Doctor Rai says right now researchers aren't as focused on how long a vaccination will be most effective, but rather they are thinking in terms of how new and modified vaccinations could better protect the public from the ever-changing virus.
"We don't know what variant is next. We don't know if there will be another variant if we can control this one," adds Dr. Rai.
And with many people in Wisconsin fully vaccinated now for over six months, medical leaders like Dr. Rai say research and data collection will ultimately help determine when folks can get an additional shot.
"Likely, I would think a booster would be more tailored to what we haven't seen yet. What we might see, versus a booster around the length of immunity," says Dr. Rai.
