The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized this Thursday night the administration of a third dose of the covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna at 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.”
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After a comprehensive review of the available data, the FDA determined that this small and vulnerable group may benefit from a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.
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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 comprehensive review of the available data, the FDA determined that this small and vulnerable group may benefit from a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock.
This official cited the new wave of the pandemic that is affecting the United States and the “particular risk of contracting a serious illness“That immunocompromised people run given their reduced ability to fight infections.
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For the rest of people outside the group of immunosuppressed and who are vaccinated with the full schedule, the FDA stressed that they continue to be “adequately protected and do not need an additional dose of the covid-19 vaccine at the moment”.
This notice comes when local media have uncovered that some people in the United States are taking advantage of the lack of rigorous controls to receive a
third dose without being approved or recommended by the authorities.
The United States thus joins other European countries and Israel who have announced that in the coming weeks they will begin to administer a third dose to the population at risk. That despite the fact that World Health Organization (WHO) Last week, he asked rich countries 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 most at risk of developing a serious disease and dying. .
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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.
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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.
EFE
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