Biden’s chief scientist says the “vulnerable” will be the first to get recalls as they continue their studies on jab protection.
The United States is preparing for the possibility that a booster shot will be needed between nine and 12 months after people are initially vaccinated against COVID-19, a White House official said on Thursday.
While studying the duration of immunity after vaccination, booster vaccines may be needed, said David Kessler, chief of staff for President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 response team, at a congressional committee meeting.
“The current thinking is that those who are more vulnerable will have to go first,” Kessler said.
Initial data showed that vaccines from Moderna and partners Pfizer and BioNTech remain most effective for at least six months.
Although this protection lasts much longer, experts say that the rapid spread of coronavirus variants and others that may occur may lead to the need for regular booster shots – such as with annual flu shots.
The United States is also monitoring infections in people who have been completely vaccinated, Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a hearing in the House subcommittee.
Of the 77 million people vaccinated in the United States, there were 5,800 such infections discovered, Walensky said, including 396 people who needed hospitalization and 74 who died.
Walensky said some of these infections occurred because the vaccinated person did not have a strong immune response. But the concern is that in some cases, they occur in people infected with more contagious virus variants.
US officials have made statements about the preparations for the recall, while top UN officials have called on rich countries to donate overdoses of COVID-19 vaccine to the COVAX program, which provides lower-income countries in an attempt to end pandemic and bring the global economy back on track.
The United States, which this year donated half of its $ 4 billion commitment to COVAX, has not yet made new commitments.
“As we get to the point where we’re sure every American can be vaccinated, we’re going to do more around the world,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday.
Blinken noted that Congress recently provided more than $ 11 billion for the global US response to COVID-19.
The United States has reported more than 31 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and nearly 3 million deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.