The Biden administration's booster dose (third vaccine) is underway
: Today (Friday), the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rachel Wolansky, signed an order that would allow almost every American citizen vaccinated with two doses of Pfizer against Corona virus get another dose if six months have passed since the last injection.
The move, which is largely based on the Israeli experience with the virus, is expected to be launched immediately and is considered a significant milestone in the Biden administration's policy of increasing general immunity in the US population.
In fact, Wolenski's decision adopts the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision of Tuesday, which allows boosters to be granted to three strata of the population: anyone who has reached age 65, anyone at high risk of developing severe symptoms of the virus, and anyone exposed to the virus. Like education and health care workers and supermarket counter workers.
Those who have not yet turned 18 will not receive a boost at this stage.
The definition of the latter population is very flexible and will in fact allow almost any worker in a sector where there is interaction with many people, to get the vaccine.
Rachel Wolensky // Photo: No credit,
Wolenski's decision is considered relatively unusual because it did not accept the recommendation of its institute's expert panel, but only the FDA's decision that actually allows anyone who wants to get a booster to do so if he manages to convince his family doctor that he is under high virus exposure, regardless To his medical condition.
This immediately sets in motion the Biden administration's vaccination campaign, which largely relies on the Israeli model.
As you may recall, Biden had hoped that the FDA would give sweeping approval to boosters like in Israel, but in the end, after discussion by FDA experts, they came to the conclusion that data in the US does not currently justify a boost for everyone, among other things in light of how patients are defined. Difficult in Israel and also in light of the possibility that among young people there are sometimes mild side effects that are expressed in inflammation of the heart muscle.
President Biden // Photo: EP,
The FDA decision as aforesaid was adopted overnight by the CDC Director, despite the reservations of its institute panel regarding the broad interpretation of high-exposure sectors.
This will allow tens of millions to be vaccinated even if they are under the age of 65, as long as they are under great exposure to the virus, and the definition of this exposure can be determined by any qualified doctor, so in practice it is a success for the great Biden administration.