Dear Editor,
I understand that the “rules” on reporting vaccine efficacy mean that manufacturers are not permitted to make any claims that they cannot prove.
To a large extent, this makes sense; but it should not prevent experts and journalists from reporting what else is known.
The vaccine is a live-attenuated vaccine, like previous smallpox vaccines. Live-attenuated vaccines generally induce long-term immunity, with priming, so that once immunity has been induced, a follow-up dose leads to a large and very rapid immune response.
Concluding the article “The UKHSA has said that it will continue to investigate the duration of protection from a single dose and two doses of the vaccine.” is a cop-out. Readers have a right to know that, although it has not yet been proven that this particular vaccine will induce long-term immunity, there will be every expectation, based on everything we know about other similar vaccines, that the immunity it induces will be long-lasting.
Re: Monkeypox: Single dose of smallpox vaccine offers 78% protection, UKHSA reports