The United States on Wednesday authorized the injection of a third dose of Pfizer’s anti-Covid vaccine from the age of 65 and for people at “risk”, the United States Medicines Agency announced. The booster dose can be administered from six months after the second injection. In France, the 3rd dose in nursing homes has been authorized since mid-September.
Between the ages of 18 and 64, those eligible for this booster dose include those at “high risk” of developing a severe form of the disease, including due to “frequent exposure” to the virus from exercise. their profession or situation, according to a press release from the US agency (FDA).
This decision includes “health workers, teachers and school staff, workers in supermarkets and those in homeless shelters or prisons, and others,” said acting chief of the FDA, Janet. Woodcock, cited in press release.
If the categories of population concerned therefore appear broad, this decision is despite everything a setback for the administration of President Joe Biden, who announced in mid-August that the reminders could be administered to all American adults.
Risks to be defined
The government has since been widely criticized for appearing to anticipate the decision of the scientific authorities, and has been accused of causing confusion. The FDA ultimately chose to follow the advice of its advisory committee. The latter, made up in particular of epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists, spoke out last week to limit the injection of a booster to certain categories of populations, in particular the elderly and health personnel.
A committee of experts from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) was also meeting on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the issue in turn. The health authorities must then publish detailed recommendations intended for professionals supposed to administer these third doses, which must in particular specify what is covered by the term “high risk”.