Will you need a 2nd booster shot to keep coronavirus at bay?

With omicron fading and pressure growing to ease mask rules and other pandemic restrictions, there is growing debate among health officials and experts about if or when a second booster shot will be part of this path toward recovery.

Vaccines and boosters proved highly effective against serious illness from omicron. But what is also clear, though, is that the defense afforded by vaccines — while still robust — tends to wane over time, leaving even some vaccinated and boosted individuals more vulnerable than others.

Data released earlier this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examined people who got a booster shot of a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine after completing a two-dose primary vaccination series.

During a time when omicron was the dominant coronavirus variant, vaccine effectiveness against COVID-related emergency department or urgent care visits for people was