Health Check Podcast: 4th Covid-19 shot: Will we need to get it one day?

A woman in Israel getting her fourth Covid-19 vaccine shot after the government approved a second booster shot for the immunocompromised, people over 60 years and medical staff.

PHOTO: REUTERS

Joyce Teo

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Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you.

A Covid-19 infection confers natural immunity but the question is how long will it last. Israel has given some people a fourth dose, which is the second booster shot. In Singapore, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung had said that the question of whether further booster shots are necessary is still a matter of debate among scientists studying the coronavirus, and that there are no active plans to administer a second booster. But will we eventually need one?

In our previous episode, Prof Teo Yik Ying, the dean of the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said Covid would inevitably catch up with all of us at some time. In this mini episode, ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo asks him about the probability of us needing a second booster dose.

Highlights (click/tap above):

00:58 Probability of Singapore needing a second booster shot

02:13 Second booster shot more likely for those with weakened immune systems

03:10 Joyce's personal experience with Covid-19

Listen to Ep 77 ft Prof Teo: Why we are all going to eventually catch Covid-19 https://omny.fm/shows/health-check-1/health-check-ep-77

Produced by: Joyce Teo (joyceteo@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, and Fa'izah Sani

Edited by: Fa'izah Sani

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