The Government of Joe Biden plans to authorize in the coming weeks the administration of a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine for people with weak or compromised immune systems, given the risk posed by the spread of the delta variant, which already poses more 90% of cases in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It is expected that
in a week or two
the officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, in English)
review new data from the CDC that supports it
, as federal sources have told The Washington Post under anonymity because the plan still It is not official.
Although initially the Administration considered that there was not enough scientific evidence to add a third dose to the current vaccination plan, it has reconsidered its position as other countries - France, Germany and Israel, among others - made that decision and the pharmaceutical companies they pressed with evidence in their favor.
A Tyson Foods employee receives a COVID-19 injection in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Pfizer explained last month when it presented its plans for a third dose that, given within a year after the second injection of its COVID-19 vaccine, could boost immunity.
The FDA and CDC have noted that their analysis could include data from drug companies, "but it is not based solely on that data."
It is not for Pfizer or any other pharmaceutical company, but for the FDA, to decide if an additional dose is necessary, while the CDC will determine who should receive it.
[Is a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine necessary? Israel starts putting it up and Pfizer discusses it with the FDA and CDC]
People with compromised immune systems make up 2.7% of the population
, according to the CDC, and include those with cancer, organ or stem cell transplants, or infectious diseases.
These people are more likely to get seriously ill from COVID-19 and can spread the virus more easily, according to experts.
"It is extremely important for us to move forward so that these people receive their reinforcements, and now we are working on that," Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday.
Many immunosuppressed people did not have a response to the vaccine that provides adequate protection.
added.
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Federal authorities are also analyzing the application of a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines for the adult population over 65, as reported last week by The Wall Street Journal
.
Although that could take until September, according to officials quoted by that outlet.
Both Pfizer-BioNTech's and Moderna's vaccines have been licensed for emergency use with two doses, as well as Johnson & Johnson's with a single dose.
It is expected that they will approve an extra injection for these three vaccines
, although this will depend on the data analyzed by the authorities
.
More than 70% of the adult population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines and about 50% are fully inoculated.
But almost a third have not received any doses, so the epidemic has continued to spread rapidly among this group of the population.
On average, nearly 400 people died a day from the coronavirus in the past week, the vast majority of them in communities with low vaccination rates, according to the CDC.
