The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday authorized an additional vaccine dose to be administered to people with compromised immune systems, who may not have an adequate immune response to the vaccine, reports CNN.
Doses for immunocompromised people
Vaccine advisers to the CDC voted unanimously to recommend the additional dose for some immunocompromised people on Friday. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky quickly endorsed the vote, which means people can get these third doses right away.
Booster shots may also be made available for others soon, such as elderly people, those in nursing homes or even the general population. Some officials are concerned that the Delta variant may be able to evade some of the vaccine’s protection.
Vaccine effect
“There is a concern that the vaccine may start to wane in its effectiveness over months, and Delta is a nasty one for us to try to deal with,” Collins said. “The combination of those two means we may need boosters, maybe beginning first with health care providers, as well as people in nursing homes and then gradually moving forward.”
Fauci said the vaccines still provide strong protection, but officials are studying the issue to determine if such boosters are needed.
“So if it turns out, as the data come in, we see we do need to give an additional dose to people in nursing homes, actually, or people who are elderly, we will be absolutely prepared to do that very quickly,” Fauci said.
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Source: CNN
