By Erik Ortiz - NBC News
The announcement made on Wednesday by federal health authorities that a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered to already immunized people in the United States starting in September has drawn criticism for fears that the poorest countries remain unprepared to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Joe Biden's government plan has been vigorously rejected as "immoral" and "unconscionable" by officials, scientists at the World Health Organization (WHO) and international public health experts.
A vaccination card against COVID-19 Wilfredo Lee / AP
"We are planning to distribute additional life jackets to people who already have life jackets, while letting other people drown without a single life jacket," said Michael Ryan, WHO chief of emergencies.
The organization's CEO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called last week for a global moratorium on COVID-19 booster vaccines until at least the end of September, in order to redirect vaccine supplies and immunize at least the 10% of the population of each country.
About half of the US population is fully vaccinated, while in the rest of the world only 24% on average are protected, and in the poorest countries only 1% have received at least one dose.
[We answer questions about the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine]
"It is inconceivable that companies producing the vaccine are reporting record profits and that some countries are offering boosters, while so many people remain unprotected," tweeted a user named Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday.
"No one is safe until everyone is safe."
Biden said Thursday that both he and his wife Jill will receive the third dose as soon as they are eligible to receive it.
Both were immunized in December 2020.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Africa Regional Director, on Thursday expressed concern that vaccination disparities between the richest and poorest countries are only getting worse, telling reporters that, "as that some richer countries hoard vaccines, they scoff at the equity of vaccines. "
Biden Says They Are Ready To Give A Free Additional Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine
Aug. 18, 202100: 57
Israel announced in July that it would begin offering a third injection of the Pfizer vaccine to those over 60.
However, the US health authorities believe that action is necessary now, regardless of age group.
Given that the highly transmissible delta variant has caused an increase in cases throughout the country and studies show that the efficacy of vaccines decreases over time, booster doses "will be necessary to maximize protection induced by the disease. vaccine and extend its durability, "officials said.
[In video: Pope Francis sends a message in favor of the vaccine against COVID-19]
The United States, they added, still has the ability to help other nations by increasing supplies and "expanding the more than 600 million doses that we have already committed to donating globally."
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English), Rochelle Walensky, addressed criticism of inequality with disadvantaged countries during an interview Thursday on NBC television.
"I don't think this is a choice in terms of whether we have to choose one or the other [thing]. We're going to do both and we've been doing both," Walensky said.
The government, he said, plans to administer 100 million booster vaccines by the end of the year, while distributing another 200 million worldwide.
A woman is vaccinated in New York against COVID-19 in the presence of her daughter.
Mary Altaffer / AP
While some public health experts say that a COVID-19 booster shot is likely to be warranted at some point, it may be too early to start giving them to everyone without fully understanding their effectiveness.
"Certainly in the case of immunosuppressed people, it makes sense to give them boosters because they may not necessarily respond to the proper dosing structure," said Eleanor Murray, an epidemiologist and adjunct professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.
"But the data is not entirely clear as to the decrease in immunity that we might expect in people, and it is possible that changes in the efficacy of the vaccine have to do with changes in people's behavior." assured.
How many people could Greg Abbott infect from not wearing a mask?
Nacho Lozano analyzes a video
Aug. 19, 202102: 53
"When COVID-19 is left unchecked and allowed to spread through populations, it has devastating consequences as we saw in India," Dr. Madhukar Pai, Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health at McGill University in India, said in an email. Montreal.
"So when vaccines are not widely available, we will see more and more countries with uncontrolled outbreaks and new variants emerging. This will keep the Covid-19 pandemic going for years," he said.