I was fully vaccinated seven months ago. I walked into a pharmacy this week and got another Pfizer shot. I didn’t tell the pharmacist it was my third; she didn’t ask ... but I did lie in that I said it was my second, so now I have TWO vaccine cards !! Since the U.S. has no central database of immunization records, the store had no way to know I’d been vaccinated at the local health department. I did not provide any ID or Medicare numbers (just checked the boxes that said "no insurance"), so I doubt I'm tracible.
Justification ... Israel’s Health Ministry recently announced that after five months a double dose of the Pfizer vaccine remains 91% effective at preventing severe disease but only 39% effective against infection. Israelis over 60 who received their last shot at least five months ago are eligible for a third dose. Germany said it will offer third shots to the elderly and sick starting next month, and White House officials told reporters they will soon advise Americans who are over 65 or immunocompromised to get them. I’m 69, so why shouldn’t I get one too?
CNN Health reports that a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine can “strongly” boost protection against the Delta variant – beyond the protection afforded by the standard two doses, new data released by Pfizer on Wednesday suggests.
The data posted online suggest that levels of antibodies that can target the Delta variant grow fivefold in people 18 to 55 who get a third dose of the vaccine. Among people ages 65 to 85, the Pfizer data suggest that antibody levels that should protect against Delta grow 11-fold more than following a second dose.
The second dose cause a slight fever, 1 day of body aches, and a really sore arm ... but that's it. The third dose has caused a mild fever, a little bit of tiredness, and a sore upper arm at the injection site ... small price to pay.
Recently, Bloomberg published this chart about how the immune system reacts to the third shot:
