Future vaccines. Will we need a 3rd shot &/or annual shots?

Rona is mutating. The present vaccines are aimed at the initial manifestation. Will  present vaccine recipients need a third shot in a few moths that will be designed to address the variants? 

Might we be needing annual shots to address future variants if the virus doesn't wind down like the 1918 virus did?

Today's news about J&J's vaccine was pretty good.  Not as astounding as the overall effectiveness of Moderna and Pfizer (but better against the South African variant) but pretty good, especially for a one shot deal.  J&J is now studying a possible booster for their shot.

max_weisenfeld said:

Re your comparison to the 1918 virus, I don't know about you but I do get an annual flu vaccine.

 But the annual is not to protect against descendants of the 1918 flu which died out.

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

 But the annual is not to protect against descendants of the 1918 flu which died out.

 1918 flu was H1N1. It's mutated over the years but it's still with us.

Covid news seems to have gone sideways in recent days with increasing concern about the effectiveness of vaccines against variants and a possible uptick in cases after a recent decline.  But I think the news re the vaccines is better than it looks at first glance.  This from an article today about the J&J vaccine:  'After day 28, no one who got vaccinated needed hospitalization or died regardless of whether they were exposed to “regular COVID or these particularly nasty variants,” [J&J] said. When the vaccinated did become infected, they had a milder illness.'

they are reporting that vaccines are showing effectiveness against known mutations...to varying degrees.... at least 1 of the companies is working on a booster....they don't even know if the vaccine will work against the 'original' virus long term.

flu is a different virus year to year, that is why a different vaccine is needed each year.  they guess at what specific strain will be prevalent and make that vaccine.  but, they also say the vaccine only works for about half a year.

If it comes down to yearly shots like the flu, we can live with that.  I'm not even dreaming about immunity forever from one shot although I know some drug company spokespeople have suggested that's possible.  Let's just get the damn thing under control this year.  Let's pray for a reasonably normal summer.

To wit, it isn't just somewhere overseas we have to worry about. There's the potential for variation every time that virus infects a cell. And variants can have variants, like branches growing out of a trunk. As Dr. Fauci urged, we need to do what is necessary to stop this - [before there is no economy left to save. Edit, mine]

https://www.oregonlive.com/coronavirus/2021/01/california-discovers-homegrown-coronavirus-strain-that-spreads-even-faster-than-any-other.html

This from the article:

Some damning evidence has already come to light. State health officials reported this week that a patient in Monterey County who had tested positive for an infection in April and recovered has now been infected with B.1.426.

That suggests that the new strain may be able to hide its presence from antibodies created after exposure to other versions of the virus — a phenomenon known as “immune escape.” If that’s the case, it might undermine the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and antibody-based treatments.

bikefixed said:

 In response, we have the restaurant association wanting to open past 10:00 on Super Bowl day. Drunk, shouting patrons after every score... What could go wrong?

I really don't know. I really don't. I double mask now, btw, especially in the housing facilities and on deliveries.