SACRAMENTO, California, U.S. (AP) – California is one of three U.S. states that have authorized the use of coronavirus booster vaccines to all adults, despite federal health officials recommending targeting the doses. only people who are considered to be at higher risk.
The nation’s most populous state, in addition to Colorado and New Mexico, has instituted its policies to prevent a dreaded spike in infections during the end-of-the-year holidays, when more people tend to gather indoors.
Colorado and New Mexico are among the states with the highest rates of new infections in the United States. California, which had the lowest when fall began, now has a “high” transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the country (CDC for its acronym in English).
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order on Friday that expanded people’s access to booster vaccines against COVID-19. Acting Secretary of the State Department of Health, Dr. David Scrase, said that due to the increase in infections, some hospitals are overwhelmed with work.
“COVID-19 is incredibly opportunistic and it is our job to ensure that the virus has fewer and fewer opportunities to spread,” said Scrase. “If it’s your turn to put on the brace, please do so immediately.”
The administration of President Joe Biden had sought to obtain authorization for all adults to receive booster vaccines, but advisers to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in September that it was not clear whether the healthy young people needed another dose. Instead, they recommended boosters only for those 65 and older and young people with chronic health problems or whose jobs put them at high risk of contracting the virus.
In California, the director of Public Health, Tomás Aragón, sent a letter to local medical authorities and medical service providers to indicate that they should “allow patients to determine their risk of exposure themselves.”
“Do not turn away patients who request a booster” if they are 18 years of age or older and it has already been six months since they received their second dose of Moderna or Pfizer, or two months since they received the Johnson & Johnson dose, which is a single dose, he wrote.
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The Associated Press journalists Jim Anderson, in Denver; Susan Montoya, in Santa Fe; and Darlene Superville, in Washington, contributed to this report.
