Citing new data, Pfizer outlined a case for booster shots, but there’s a debate over whether they’re needed.

Pfizer offered new evidence on Wednesday in support of booster shots of its potent vaccine, reporting that the vaccine’s power wanes slightly over time but may be improved with a third dose.

The new data, which have not yet been peer-reviewed nor published in a scientific journal, nonetheless confirm that the two-dose vaccine offers potent protection against the coronavirus. Whether booster shots will be widely needed is far from settled, the subject of heated debated among scientists.

So far, federal health officials have said boosters for the general population are unnecessary. And experts questioned whether vaccinated people should get more doses when so many people have yet to be immunized at all.

“There’s not enough evidence right now to support that that is somehow the best use of resources,” said Natalie Dean, a biostatician at Emory University in Atlanta.

Still, the findings raise questions about how much protection two doses will provide in the months to come. And with coronavirus cases surging again in many states, the data may influence the Biden administration’s deliberations about delivering boosters.

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