An advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has voted to recommend that immunocompromised Americans get a third dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously on Friday that people with weakened immune systems receive a booster shot of the Pfizer or Moderna jabs.
It comes a day after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to also be used as booster shots.
The CDC is expected to endorse the ACIP’s vote on Friday.
Clinicians and pharmacists generally wait for a recommendation from the CDC to administer vaccines, even if the jab has authorization from the FDA.
About 2.7% of American adults, or 7million, are immunocompromised, according to NPR. They are at higher risk of becoming seriously ill from contracting the coronavirus as well as having a prolonged infection.
Immunocompromised people have a lower antibody response to inoculation and are more likely to transmit the virus, CDC officials told committee members.
One study showed that 40% to 44% of people who had breakthrough cases of Covid-19 were people with weakened immune systems, according to NPR.
Other studies have shown that vaccines were less effective on immunocompromised people. Pfizer and Modern vaccines have been shown to be roughly 90 to 94% effective on people, while they appear to be only 59% to 72% effective on people with weakened immune systems.
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