Covid-19: United States authorizes booster dose for immunocompromised

Published on : 08/13/2021 – 09:58

The United States authorized, Thursday, August 12, the injection of a third dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine against Covid-19 for people with weakened immune systems.

“The country has entered a new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the FDA is fully aware that immunocompromised people are particularly at risk of contracting serious illness,” said Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the United States Medicines Agency (FDA).

This third dose is recommended only for people whose immune system is weakened, for example due to an organ transplant or a disease, such as AIDS or cancer. The weak immune system can come from health problems of these patients, but also from the drugs they take to solve them. This is the case, for example, in transplant recipients, who follow treatments intended to lower the immune system to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ.

Less than 3% of American adults are immunocompromised, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country’s leading federal public health agency. In these people, the immune response triggered by the injection of the vaccine is weaker than in healthy people, which affects its effectiveness.

“Other people who have the full vaccination schedule are properly protected and do not need an extra dose of the Covid vaccine to date,” said Janet Woodcock.

Against the moratorium requested by the WHO

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for a moratorium on booster doses to fight inequality between rich countries, where vaccines abound, and poor countries, which have failed to immunize. only a small part of their population.

The United States rejected the call, saying it did not “need” to choose between administering a third dose to its citizens or donating it to poor countries. Israel is also planning to administer a third dose, with very broad criteria since the Jewish state recommends it for everyone over 50. As for France, President Emmanuel Macron announced that a booster dose would be administered to people over 80 and particularly vulnerable people from September.

According to ABC, an internal document from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that in the United States about a million people have already arranged to get a third injection without being authorized.

Vaccines are free and widely available in the United States, but only half of the population is fully vaccinated. The pace of vaccination in the country has slowed especially in politically conservative parts of the South and Midwest, and among younger people, low-income people and racial minorities.

With AFP