Authorization includes people who have had solid organ transplants and those whose immune systems are equally compromised<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
FRIDAY, Aug. 13, 2021 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday authorized a third “booster” shot of coronavirus vaccines for people with weakened immune systems, as the highly contagious delta variant continues to surge across the country.<\/p>\n
Expanding the emergency use of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines should help protect those patients who are considered most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. The authorization includes people who have had solid organ transplants and those whose immune systems are equally compromised, the FDA said.<\/p>\n
With the booster dose approved, doctors will now have the leeway to give additional shots to vulnerable patients. About 3 percent of Americans have weakened immune systems for numerous reasons.<\/p>\n
“”The country has entered yet another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the FDA is especially cognizant that immunocompromised people are particularly at risk for severe disease,” Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D., said in a statement. “After a thorough review of the available data, the FDA determined that this small, vulnerable group may benefit from a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.”<\/p>\n
“Other individuals who are fully vaccinated are adequately protected and do not need an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine at this time,” Woodcock added, while noting that the agency was “actively engaged in a science-based, rigorous process with our federal partners to consider whether an additional dose may be needed in the future.”<\/p>\n