The American Medicines Agency authorized, Wednesday, October 20, the injection of a different anti-Covid vaccine for the booster dose than that initially used for immunization, a practice already possible in many countries.
The FDA has also announced it will allow recalls for all people 18 years of age and over initially vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson, and for certain categories of the at-risk population vaccinated with Moderna, including the elderly.
These announcements complement the American strategy for the recall campaign, after the authorization a month ago of a booster dose for certain people at risk vaccinated with the remedy from Pfizer.
“Available data suggest declining immunity in some fully vaccinated populations”FDA Acting Chief Janet Woodcock said in a statement. “The provision of these authorized recalls is important for continued protection against Covid-19. “
People vaccinated with Johnson and Johnson particularly affected
Until now, the United States did not allow the ” mixed “ vaccines, unlike in many countries, including the initial immunization (and not just the boosters).
This announcement is likely to be of particular interest to the more than 15 million Americans who have received the single-dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson.
An American study published last week suggested that people who received the vaccine ” NOT A WORD “ may benefit from a booster dose of a different, messenger RNA vaccine to take advantage of an even greater increase in their antibody levels.
In detail, all people 18 years of age and over who received a dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago will now be able to receive an additional dose of ” NOT A WORD “, either from Moderna or Pfizer.
For the population vaccinated with Moderna at least six months ago, three categories of people may receive a booster: all those over 65 years of age; those between 18 and 64 years of age have a “High risk” to develop a severe form of the disease; or those whose work or situation involves exposure “Frequent” to the virus. The same definitions were adopted for the Pfizer recall.
The last category includes supermarket workers, health workers, prisoners and people in shelters for the homeless.
The booster dose of Moderna’s vaccine will actually be half a dose (50 micrograms versus 100 for the two initial injections).
11 million booster doses already administered
A committee of experts from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) is now due to meet on Thursday to in turn review the data supporting these booster doses.
Once this committee has issued its opinion, the CDC will publish their specific recommendations for these injections, intended for healthcare professionals administering them.
Some immunocompromised people could already receive a third dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in the United States since early August. In total, more than 11 million booster doses have been administered in the country.