Biden's plan to offer booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the entire population in danger from September

Federal authorities have informed the White House that it may not be possible to carry out the plan announced by the president, Joe Biden, to administer an additional dose of the coronavirus vaccine to the entire population gradually from late September.

The most vulnerable groups will be able to receive a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine, but

it is not clear that others will be able to join later at the moment.

Also, those who were vaccinated with Moderna or Johnson & Johnson will also not be able to get the vaccine right away.

Top federal health officials said regulators need more time to collect and review all the necessary data, people familiar with the discussion told The New York Times.

Vaccination against COVID-19 accelerates: August almost doubles to July in the doses administered

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Janet Woodcock, Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Rochelle Walensky, who heads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warned the White House Thursday that

their Agencies could determine in the coming weeks whether to recommend boosters only for those who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine,

and possibly just a few of them to begin with.

They made their argument in a meeting with Jeffrey Zients, the White House pandemic management coordinator, who has repeatedly said that the Administration will follow the recommendations of scientific experts. 

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"Why announce this? Well, we need to have a plan and the plan would involve vaccinating large numbers of people in America with a booster dose," Woodcock told WebMD doctor John Whyte during a virtual interview. broadcast this Thursday.

"We have to come up with a plan a little bit before we have all the data and I think that's what, John, is what confuses people," Woodcock said.

Third dose of Moderna?

Several high-ranking health officials informed the White House that they will

need more time to review Moderna's request

 to administer a booster dose of her vaccine because the data the drugmaker presented on September 1 "was deemed inadequate and needs to be strengthened. "a person familiar with the matter told NBC News.

"We always said we would follow the science and this is all part of a process that is now underway," said White House spokesman Chris Meagher.

A person receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at a mobile inoculation site in the Bronx borough of New York City on August 18, 2021. David 'Dee' Delgado / Reuters

"We are awaiting a full review and approval from the FDA," Meagher said, "when that approval and recommendation is made,

we will be ready to implement the plan that the best physicians in our country developed to combat this virus

.

"

While they said the timeline depended on the FDA review, it was highly unusual for top health officials to make such a strong recommendation before the FDA had completed its review.

FDA officials previously tried to get

the White House not to set a specific date for the booster injections,

but it did so anyway, according to the CNN news network.

FDA's Vaccines and Related Biologics Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on reinforcements on Sept. 17.

According to an NPR / PBS Marist poll released this Friday, support for a vaccine booster is strong: 81% of fully vaccinated citizens say they will receive it, or have already received it (irregularly).

19% say they will not or are not sure.

With information from NBC News, The New York Times and CNN.