‘Better to Stay Ahead of It.’ Why the White House COVID-19 Strategy Now Involves Vaccine Booster Shots

By now, many public health experts, and the public for that matter, have accepted that vaccinated people may need another dose of whichever COVID-19 shot they received in order to better protect against new variants of COVID-19. And on Aug. 18, the White House endorsed a third dose for those who received either of the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. People who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine may also need an additional dose, but the relevant studies are still ongoing. For now, the government plans on rolling out Pfizer and Moderna booster doses the week of Sept. 20, beginning with people who received their last dose eight months earlier. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Booster shots still need to be authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Only Pfizer-BioNTech has submitted relevant data to that agency so far; Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are still compiling safety and efficacy data on their additional dose and plan to submit their results to the FDA in coming weeks and months. Once the FDA authorizes boosters, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) needs to endorse the extra doses, and outline who should receive them and when. (The FDA and ACIP have already authorized a booster dose for certain people who are immunocompromised because they have received organ transplants or have other conditions that prevent their imm...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news