HN Hoffmann | Student Life

Students stand in line at WU’s vaccination clinic, which offered J&J vaccines in April

Washington University is not requiring booster shots as some students, particularly those who were vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson, now meet the eligibility requirements. 

On Oct. 20, the Food and Drug Administration authorized adults 18 or older who received J&J to get a booster shot at least two months after their first shot, citing evidence of waning immunity. People who were vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna at least six months ago are eligible for a booster shot if they are older than 65, have underlying medical conditions or work or live in high-risk settings. Still, University guidance states that requiring booster shots for those who qualify is not necessary. 

“​​Based on guidance from our medical experts, the University doesn’t believe requiring boosters for students would have a significant impact on reducing COVID-19 in our community,” Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Anna Gonzalez wrote in an email to students Wednesday afternoon. “However, I would note that there may be some health benefits for individual students who have underlying medical conditions or who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”

According to the FDA, “the known and potential benefits of a booster dose outweigh the known and potential risks in the populations that the FDA is authorizing for use.”

Dr. Steve Lawrence, one of the university’s top infectious disease experts, said in a Tuesday interview with Student Life that for people under 65 without high-risk medical conditions, “there’s not a need to go rush to get boosters.”

“It’s an option and it will slightly reduce your risk of developing mild infection,” Lawrence said. “But at this point in time, especially for most students, the vast majority of students in particular, are generally speaking younger and without a lot of other medical conditions… We’re not to a point where we would even necessarily strongly recommend [getting a booster shot].”

The University had vaccinated approximately 2050 community members with the one-dose J&J vaccine at the medical campus last April, prior to a brief pause in J&J distribution, all of whom now qualify for the booster shot. At this time, the University is not offering booster shots on campus, but they are available at local pharmacies.

Lawrence explained that although there is a waning reduction in risk of developing mild infection over time, vaccines still provide significant protection against severe illness. With a 98% vaccination rate on campus, Lawrence does not believe booster shots will make a significant difference.

“There are going to be breakthrough infections; there always will,” Lawrence said. “Luckily… almost 100% of the breakthrough infections that we’ve seen on our campus have been very mild, and those will never be able to stop. During COVID season, which will be now very likely every winter for the rest of our lives, there will be COVID circulating… Having boosters will have some impact on the number of infections, but when we have a low infection rate to begin with, it wouldn’t have a major dent.”

Since classes began Aug. 30, the University has reported 124 positive cases in students and 32 positive cases in faculty and staff. As of Oct. 25, the University reported 31 active cases on campus.

“If everybody today went out and got a booster, it won’t have any impact before Halloween, for sure. But in two weeks time, then we might see one or two fewer cases per week made in a best case scenario…so it wouldn’t have a tremendous impact,” Lawrence said. “The overall number of cases in the University community when we’re having a relatively low number to start with.”

Before Gonzalez’s Wednesday email, some students were disappointed by the lack of University guidance on booster shots.

“It’s really frustrating because I hear about all of this stuff from you guys at StudLife before I hear from the administration,” sophomore Rosie Lopolito said Tuesday. “I think making [booster shots] as accessible as possible is really important—especially if they claim to care about the pandemic, which is still going on.”

Although the University is not requiring booster shots, senior Sarah Beasley, who was vaccinated with Pfizer last March, and Lopolito, who was vaccinated with J&J at the medical campus last April, plan to get their booster shots soon at a local pharmacy. 

“I’m getting one just because it can’t hurt to have extra protection,” Beasley said. “My other family members have gotten it and there really haven’t been any adverse side effects, so I figure it really can’t hurt.”

Lopolito said that she is “a little concerned” about side effects after dealing with short-term side effects when she was vaccinated in the spring, but said that she knows to plan better this time around. “I don’t plan on scheduling the booster the day before an exam or something. So I think it’s good to know how it affected me the first time,” she said.

Sophomore Carson Codel, who got vaccinated with J&J at the medical campus last April, said that if booster shots are not offered on the Danforth Campus, he might wait until winter break to avoid dealing with side effects during the semester. Last April, Codel said he got “hit pretty hard” by the side effects the next day.

“I think the best course of action for me at this point would probably be to wait until I’m home for winter break and then get it done, and I don’t have to worry about the side effects while having to take classes and finals and stuff,” Codel said. “But, I mean, if it’s offered on campus, I’d definitely be interested in getting it.”

Another consideration is whether to “mix-and-match” booster shots. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that eligible people can get any of the three available booster doses, regardless of the brand of their initial dose. Lawrence said “mix-and-match” dosing can be “a very useful strategy” because it can offer greater immunity than the same vaccine being used for both prime and boost.

“There is evidence in Europe that those who received a dose of AstraZeneca, which is very similar to the J&J vaccine, and then got a booster dose with the mRNA vaccine, that they actually ended up with certainly higher antibody levels and maybe a little better protection than just two doses of the AstraZeneca by itself,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence said that the “mix-and-match” idea is only being brought up now because the FDA wants to base its recommendations on data. “There is not a huge amount of safety data but there’s also not a reason to believe safety would be an issue,” he said.

Regardless of whether students get booster shots at this point, Lawrence emphasized that the extra shots “shouldn’t in any way change how we conduct our daily lives” and that indoor masking remains “the most important thing.”

“We’ll see if in the winter when it is cold all the time, and people are indoors almost all the time…We kind of expect that [COVID cases] may level off or go up again,” Lawrence said. “But we’re keeping our fingers crossed because we have a fair amount of cautious optimism that by the time spring comes along most of the worst of this will be passed.”

Grace Kennard contributed reporting.