WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. health officials announced plans Wednesday to give booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to all eligible Americans to increase their protection, amid an outbreak of cases fueled by the variant. delta and signs that the effectiveness of vaccines is declining.
The plan, drawn up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health agencies, calls for an additional dose eight months after people received the second dose of the Pfizer-developed vaccine. or by Moderna. The booster would begin to be administered from the week of September 20.
“Our plan is to protect the American people, to stay ahead of this virus,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, as the agency cited a series of studies showing that vaccines are losing ground as the delta variant it is spreading.
People who have received the single-dose vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson are also likely to need an additional injection, health officials said. But they said they were waiting for more information.
The overall plan is subject to a third dose safety and efficacy evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration and review by a CDC advisory panel.
The authorities pointed out that it is “very clear” that the protection of vaccines against infections decreases over time, and they mentioned what happened in Israel, which has registered an increase in serious cases of coronavirus, many of them in people who were already vaccinated. They stressed that the United States needs to get ahead of the problem before it takes a deadlier turn and begins to cause an increase in hospitalizations and deaths among those vaccinated.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top adviser on COVID-19, said one of the key lessons from the coronavirus is that it is better to “get ahead of it than chase it.”
Top scientists at the World Health Organization opposed the US plan, noting that poor countries are not getting enough vaccines for their initial rounds.
“We are planning to distribute additional life jackets to people who already have life jackets, while letting other people drown without a single life jacket,” said Dr Michael Ryan, WHO chief of emergencies.
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Stobbe reported from New York. Associated Press journalists Carla K. Johnson in Washington State and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
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