DENVER (KDVR) — While COVID-19 hospitalizations in Colorado are on the decline, many are wondering if it will soon be time to consider a fourth dose of already available vaccines.
Many who received booster shots toward the end of 2021 would be on schedule to receive an additional vaccine in June, as the summer travel season begins, but how likely that is depends on what researchers learn about the virus and its effect on the community in the coming weeks.
“here is going to be another variant. This virus continues to mutate and what happens if the next variant is more contagious or is immune to our present vaccines? We don’t know that yet,” said Dr. Reginald Washington, chief medical officer of Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center.
Washington added that if a fourth dose of the vaccine were to be recommended, it may be targeted to those in specific communities.
“It may not be universal. It may be for the elderly that we make that recommendation, it may be only in the immuno-compromised individuals we make that recommendation, it might be depending upon the density of the COVID infections in your various communities,” he said.
Washington warned that even with decreased cases and hospitalizations in Colorado, now is not the time to let one’s guard down. It is a good idea to continue to practice handwashing and distancing and monitor any symptoms.
“If you go to any of the patients who are in our hospital or in our intensive care unit and say CPVOD is no longer a problem, they would really disagree with you,” he said.