Failure to Take Second Vaccine Dose Would Prolong COVID-19 Pandemic

Many Americans who received their first dose of a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine remain confused with the necessity of a second dose, heightening fears of a prolonged pandemic, a study said.

In a survey of more than 1,000 American adults last February, one-fifth of respondents believed the vaccines offered strong protection after the first dose, making them decide to skip the necessary second dose. Less than half thought the vaccines were effective after the second dose, while the rest were unsure.

Among those vaccinated in the survey respondents, reaching only 19 percent of the sample, about half of them were instructed on the timing of vaccine protection, and a small majority advised to continue wearing masks, observe social distancing, and evading crowds.

The survey results in "Beyond the First Shot-COVID-19 Vaccine Follow-through and Continued Protective Measures," confirm data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suggesting that around three percent of Americans, which exceeds five million people, who took their first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines last month skipped their second dose.

Second-Dose Attrition Worse in Racial, Ethnic Minority Groups

Researchers said the problem could even be more severe for racial or ethnic minority groups that traditionally have multidose vaccine attrition. Black and Latino respondents, the survey showed, do not believe that the vaccine would provide strong protection after the second dose, with more ending up unsure.

They emphasize that minority groups' failure to combat such second-dose attrition "risks magnifying existing racial disparities in the virus' human toll."

On the need to continue mask-wearing after getting inoculated, researchers found that more than 80 percent agreed or strongly agreed, with the largest support emanating from those aged 60 years and older, vaccinated and Black, a EurekaAlert article said.

Fewer than a third of vaccinated survey respondents indicated that they were informed of the risk of virus transmission was unknown, which is one reason they continue to wear masks.

Better Guidance Needed on the Use of Vaccines

The survey findings show an urgent, real need for medical professionals to offer better guidance and contextual clarifications on the use of vaccines, specifically how lives can change after receiving the vaccine as we head back to normalcy.

Improved education after the first dose is direly needed to fight second-dose attrition, Mirage News reported. Researchers were concerned about the lack of information transfer after receiving the first dose. No information about taking a second dose or continued protective measures was given.

The biggest hindrance in finally curbing the virus completely is vaccine attrition, the researchers said, which would be worse than the actual hesitancy to take the vaccine. Because of this, they said, we may end up "prolonging the pandemic" because people do complete the required two doses.

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