The worst and most public dysfunction seems to be coordination between regulatory bodies and the private sector regarding boosters and pediatric vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is mysteriously slow rolling not just third shots of the existing mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for the general population, despite clear data from Israel that efficacy against infection wanes as times marches on, but also new boosters from Moderna specifically geared to fight variants. Last month, the Biden administration suddenly announced that boosters would be administered starting on Sept. 20 for anyone eight months or more out from their second shots. Six days later that timeline was bumped up to six months. Then scientists at the FDA and CDC balked at their marching orders and publicly called that timeline into question, accusing the White House of rushing them for political reasons.

To make matters worse, the administration announced on Sept. 3 that Moderna vaccine boosters would be delayed at least several weeks to complete a review of the company’s trial data. There remains no timeline for a Johnson & Johnson booster even though the company says a second shot of their vaccine produces a robust immune response. The 14 million people who got that company’s single-shot vaccine will remain in limbo indefinitely. The whole fiasco has rendered the “one vaccine is just as good as the other” discourse from the spring maddeningly hollow.

And what are ordinary people to make of our immunity levels right now? It’s waning, some say, based on Israeli data suggesting that those who got their shots first are getting sick with breakthrough infections more often than those who got their jabs recently. On Aug. 27, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that boosters are not necessary for the time being and vaccinated people should be confident in their protection from severe disease — but last week he seemed to endorse the idea that all vaccinated people will need a booster for maximum protection. The administration has not addressed studies suggesting that the Moderna vaccine provides longer-lasting immunity than Pfizer. Meanwhile, Moderna and the FDA are fighting over dosages for the company’s proposed booster vaccines. Biden’s team promised that it could quickly roll out boosters for any variant, but here we are more than six months into the Delta nightmare, and they are nowhere to be seen.