CDC advisory committee recommends additional vaccine dose for immunocompromised

CDC advisory committee recommends additional vaccine dose for immunocompromise

The third booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine is here, but there are limited applicable people.
 

On August 13, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) team and the FDA approved the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for patients with moderate to severe immunocompetence. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are both mRNA (i.e., "messenger ribonucleic acid") vaccines. Previously, Pfizer's BioNTech was authorized by the FDA for emergency use by individuals 12 years of age and older, and Moderna was authorized for emergency use by individuals 18 years and older. Both vaccines were divided into two injections. Now, the FDA's revised emergency use authorization for these vaccines means that the third dose of Pfizer's BioNTech vaccine is allowed to be used by individuals 12 years of age or older who have received solid organ transplantation or have been diagnosed as the same immunocompromised. At the same time, the third dose of Moderna vaccine is also allowed to be used by individuals 18 years of age or older who are immunocompromised.


The ACIP shared the FDA’s recommendation of a third dose for patients who had undergone solid organ transplantation or who were diagnosed with conditions leading to a similar impairment of immune function. Other patients who would be eligible include those with have received CAR-T cell or hematopoietic stem cell transplants and those with moderate to severe primary immunodeficiency or advanced or untreated HIV. Patients receiving high doses of corticosteroids or other immunosuppressing drugs would also be eligible.
 

The Global Liver Institute (GLI) applauded the decisions from the FDA and CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. “This is great news for the seven million immunocompromised Americans, many of whom had no to little protective immune response to the standard one- and two-dose vaccine regimens and so faced risks similar to those who had chosen to take no vaccination at all, or worse, since COVID-19 infection raises our risks of severe effects from infection, including hospitalization and death,” said GLI CEO and President.
 

The Delta mutant strain has become the main virus spreading in the global COVID-19 pandemic. With the increase in cases of Delta virus breakthrough vaccine infection, the call for inoculation of the COVID-19 vaccine is increasing.