Federal authorities have approved a third dose of the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for certain immunocompromised individuals.
As a result, San Benito County Public Health Services is recommending that local medical providers use updated guidance from the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to determine which patients may benefit from a third dose.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Aug. 12 amended the emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to allow for a third dose. Specifically, federal health officials think that solid organ transplant recipients or those diagnosed with conditions that similarly compromise the immune system would benefit from the third shot of the vaccine, says the county’s press release.
“This action was taken because studies indicate that some immunocompromised people do not build the same level of immunity after vaccination,” says the Aug. 16 release. “Additional small studies demonstrated that fully vaccinated immunocompromised individuals have accounted for a large proportion of hospitalized post-vaccination cases and that immunocompromised people are more likely to transmit the virus to household contacts.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 2.7 percent of the population of the United States is immunocompromised, including organ transplant recipients, people undergoing cancer treatment, and those with other immunodeficiencies.
The newly expanded FDA amendment does not extend to individuals who received the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine. The additional dose will be matched to the initial vaccination type. The recipient must have completed the initial vaccination series 28 days or more before the third injection.
A third dose is not authorized by the FDA for use in fully vaccinated people who are not moderately to severely immunocompromised, as defined by the CDC. People with diabetes, heart disease, or who are elderly are not considered to be moderately to severely immunocompromised unless they have another condition that causes them to be immunocompromised to the same extent as someone who had a solid organ transplant.
