Washington | The United States on Wednesday administered the third dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to people 65 years of age and older and those at “risk” including employment. Especially reveals the virus.
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The United States Medicines Agency (FDA) has announced that a booster dose may be given six months after the second injection.
Between the ages of 18 and 64, those eligible for this booster dose are those at “high risk” of developing a severe form of the disease, including “frequent exposure” from strenuous exercise. Their career or their situation, a press release from the company.
The decision includes “health workers, teachers and school staff, supermarket staff and those in homeless shelters or prisons,” said Janet Woodcock, executive chairman of the FDA, cited in a news release.
If the segments of the population involved are broad, this decision is a setback for the administration of President Joe Biden, who announced in mid-August that reminders to all American adults could be administered without distinction.
The government was widely criticized for appearing to anticipate the decision of the scientific authorities, and was accused of causing confusion.
The FDA eventually chose to follow the advice of its advisory board. The latter, especially developed by epidemiologists and epidemiologists, spoke last week about controlling drug infiltration for a specific type of population, especially the elderly and health workers.
This group justified its opinion by raising concerns about the risk of myocardial infarction in adolescents and young adults.
A panel of experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country’s leading federal public health agency, is set to meet on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the issue.
The CDC should then publish detailed recommendations for experts on how to administer this third dose, specifically mentioning what exactly includes the word “high risk”.
Moderna and Johnson & Johnson expected
The FDA’s decision was different from what was announced by Joe Biden’s government: it promised that a broader recall campaign for the Fijian and Modern vaccines would begin the week of September 20, eight months after the second injection for all Americans.
He justified the announcement with initial data showing that the effectiveness of both products in the vaccinated population began to decline over time as the second injection time came to an end.
Anthony Fossie, an immunologist and government adviser on the COVID-19 crisis, on Sunday rejected the notion that health experts’ decision was a setback for the government. He told CNN that the FDA had “always suspended all data (…) for evaluation”.
According to him, a decision on the booster dose of two other vaccines approved in the United States, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, could be made in the coming weeks.
Moderna submitted initial data to the FDA in early September showing the effectiveness of the powder dose, which has not yet been analyzed.
Johnson & Johnson, for its part, released this data on Tuesday.
Some immunocompromised people can receive a third dose of Pfizer or Modern vaccine in the United States from early August.
Other countries, such as France or Spain, have already begun a campaign to reclaim a portion of their population. In Israel, the government has advanced further: anyone over the age of 12 can receive a third dose of Pfizer.
A move that the World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly denied, denouncing vaccine inequalities between rich and poor countries. According to the WHO, the first vaccination for as many people as possible in the world is highly ethical, but very practical from a public health perspective.
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