COVID-19: US FDA authorises booster vaccine shots for individuals with weak immunity

The United States of America has approved an additional Covid vaccine dose for people with weaker immune systems, the country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) infomred on Thursday. 

Interim Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement that the country has entered another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the FDA is quite mindful about the fact that immunocompromised persons are particularly at risk for serious illness. Accordingly, the FDA has given emergency use clearance for a third shot of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.  

Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Rochelle Walensky said in a White House COVID-19 news event that the injections will be offered to those who are moderately or severely immune impaired, such as organ transplant recipients and cancer patients. She added that as per estimates vulnerable people constitute less than 3% of the country's adult population. 

Walensky said that the decision to give booster shots is to ensure that the most vulnerable citizens, who may require an extra dosage to improve their biological reactions to vaccinations, are better protected against COVID-19.  

More about the addition dosage to immunocompromised individuals

The Advisory Committee of the CDC will convene on Friday to address problems that immunocompromised citizens may face and make recommendations for vaccine implementation. The White House's medical advisor, Dr Anthony Fauci, however, said that the elderly and those who are not immunocompromised do not require another vaccination shot at this time. 

In the past month, the number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations has increased exponentially across the country. Some hospitals in Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi have exhausted the capacity of beds, and the outbreak is expanding beyond the US South's core to Oregon and Washington.  

Meanwhile, the USA recently turned down a World Health Organization request for a booster shot suspension to assist in alleviating the huge disparity in dosage distribution between wealthy and poor countries.  

Some nations, such as Israel and Germany, are planning or have already given third vaccine doses to old or vulnerable individuals in an attempt to halt the spread of the coronavirus's dangerous Delta varient. 

(Image: PTI)