“As SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve and is likely to become endemic, it is possible people may need periodic booster shots for the foreseeable future,” Immunologist David R. Martinez writes. “I suspect scientists will eventually need to update the COVID-19 vaccine to take on newer variants, as they do for flu.”
David R. Martinez
David R. Martinez is a viral immunologist with an expertise in immunity to viral pathogens of global importance including HIV, dengue and SARS-CoV-2. He received his Ph.D. from Duke University and is also a postdoctoral fellow in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. As a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Ralph Baric's lab, he focused on studying host antibody responses to dengue virus and SARS-CoV-2. In 2023, he will start as an assistant professor of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine.