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To the Editor:

Re “Biden Advisers Expect Booster Will Be Needed” (front page, July 24):

Apparently, our immunity to coronavirus may be time-limited. You state, “The growing consensus within the administration that at least some Americans will need a booster is tied in part to research suggesting that the Pfizer vaccine is less effective against the coronavirus after about six months.”

Yet, borders are opening for travelers who have been vaccinated and other restrictions are being lifted in many venues. What am I missing? If the vaccination may no longer be as effective, what is the point of lifting restrictions?

Proof of vaccination is inadequate. Testing for the presence of antibodies is essential, as is testing for the virus itself. And don’t dally with approval for the booster shots.

Understandably, people wish to return to a semblance of their former lives after this long siege, but please let’s be prudent.

Lawrence Balter
New York
The writer is a psychoanalyst and professor emeritus of applied psychology at New York University.

To the Editor:

Re “Why, After Months of Shots, Are None Approved?,” by David Leonhardt (The Morning, July 22):

I’ve been asking for months why full approval hasn’t already occurred. Once full approval is given, the sizable percentage of those in the military who haven’t accepted vaccinations may have to do so, as the Pentagon is considering, and schools as well as businesses will be in a much stronger position to require vaccinations. The military and public schools already mandate other vaccinations that are fully approved.

Mr. Leonhardt writes: “F.D.A. officials are acting as if most Americans are experts in the nuances of their approval process and will be shocked if the agency expedites it. In reality, many Americans know almost nothing about that process.”

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