US authorizes third dose of Coronavirus vaccine for people with Vulnerable immune systems

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized this Thursday night the administration of a third dose of the covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna to immunosuppressed people.

It is, according to this regulatory body, a “small group” of people, made up of organ transplant recipients or “Those who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunosuppression”.

The FDA thus amended its emergency authorizations for these two vaccines, which are not yet formally approved although they have been used since December 2020, so that this third dose can be administered.

“After a thorough review of the available data, the FDA determined that this small and vulnerable group may benefit from a third dose of the vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech or Modern”, indicated the acting commissioner of the FDA, Janet Woodcock.

This official cited the new wave of the pandemic that is affecting United States and the “particular risk of contracting a serious disease” for immunocompromised people given their reduced ability to fight infections.

For the rest of people outside the immunosuppressed group and who are vaccinated with the full schedule, the FDA stressed that they remain “adequately protected and do not need an additional dose of the covid-19 vaccine at this time”.

This notice comes when local media have uncovered that some people in United States They are taking advantage of the lack of rigorous controls to receive a third dose without it being approved or recommended by the authorities.

United States thus joins other European countries and Israel that have announced that in the coming weeks they will begin to administer a third dose to the population at risk.

This despite the fact that the World Health Organization (WHO) asked rich countries last week for a global moratorium on a third dose so that there are enough vaccines to immunize at least 10% of the population of each country and thus protect those who are at higher risk of developing a serious illness and dying.

According to official data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 59.2% of Americans have received at least one dose of any of the vaccines, and 50.2% the schedule complete.

These are low percentages for a country that has had enough vaccines for its entire population for months but has been met with skepticism and rejection by some sectors, especially racial minorities and conservatives.

To date, 619,093 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States and more than 36 million have been infected, according to an independent count from Johns Hopkins University.