FDA decision to expand the emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines aims to better protect people with immune deficiencies.
New Delhi: With more and more cases of the highly contagious Delta variant being reported across the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is likely to allow a third injection of the Covid-19 vaccine for people with weak immune systems, The New York Times reported.
The decision to expand the emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines aims to better protect people with immunodeficiency.
Citing an official familiar with the decision, the NYT report said that people who have had solid organ transplants and those whose immune systems are also compromised are most likely to benefit from an additional injection of the vaccine.
Authorization is likely soon.
In the United States, according to the NYT, about 3% of people have weakened immune systems for a variety of reasons, from cancer to steroid use.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee, set to meet on Friday, will review the FDA’s decision to allow the third injection for a selected category of people.
While the FDA can make an independent decision on such matters, doctors typically wait to act until the CDC gives its opinion.
France, Germany, and Hungary have offered extra doses of the vaccine to people with a weak immune response.
A third dose of the Moderna vaccine significantly increased antibody levels against Covid-19 in organ transplant patients, according to a Bloomberg report, citing a comparison of an additional injection to a placebo in people with low immunity.
According to the report, the FDA is closely monitoring data from these supplemental dose studies in immunocompromised people.
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