A major decision is expected from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding a possible third dose of COVID-19 vaccine. But is it necessary and who will need a third dose?
In the coming days, the Advisory Committee of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will discuss the possibility of a third dose of the vaccine in immunocompromised patients.
According to Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the above dose will not act as a booster but as necessary to achieve immunity from the initial full vaccination of the two satisfactory levels.
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The conference of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, will focus on 2-4% of American adults with weakened immune systems, including transplant patients, cancer patients with treatment, patients with rheumatic diseases, HIV-positive patients and leukaemia patients.
Camille Kotton, a transplant-medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and member of the advisory group supported the concept of the third dose.
He said:
“From my perspective as someone who takes care of immunocompromised people, including organ transplant recipients, who seem to have a diminished response to vaccination, and based on the data we have seen recently … it does seem like an additional dose of vaccine would be appropriate for this population. And as far as we can tell, it would be safe and likely to augment immunity”.
But not all experts agree on this.
Helen Boucher, an infectious disease specialist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, said:
“I haven’t seen evidence that a booster would be indicated for anybody, including the immunocompromised”.
“A lot of that data is still emerging,” Boucher told the Post.
Booster shots have become a hot topic since Pfizer-BioNTech announced last week that it would seek emergency use authorization for a third shot of its two-dose vaccine amid growing concerns about the highly transmissible Delta variant, according to the Washington Post. However, US health officials have said that a third dose is not widely needed.
Critics, like the World Health Organization, argue that pharma firms like Pfizer should concentrate on delivering vaccines to billions of people in poor nations, rather than boosters for individuals who have previously been vaccinated in affluent countries.
The CDC advisory group meeting next week will not address Pfizer-request for regulatory clearance of a third booster dosage. It will concentrate only on updating clinical considerations for coronavirus vaccines, which will not need a panel vote.
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This week, Israel announced that it would begin administering a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine to severely immunocompromised adults, and Britain plans to begin administering booster shots in September, first to those with weakened immune systems, people over the age of 70, and front-line health care workers.
Photo by Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images