FDA, CDC approve third COVID vaccine dose for certain immunocompromised people
13 August 2021
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have both recommended that certain immunocompromised people receive a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.
Why it matters: Data suggest that people with weakened immune systems don't generate strong enough levels of protection against the virus with just two doses, but a third dose could significantly help.
Details: The booster shot will be authorized for "solid organ transplant recipients or those who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise," according to the FDA.
- The third dose should be administered at least 28 days after the standard two-dose regimen of either Pfizer or Moderna is completed.
A CDC advisory panel agreed with the FDA, saying that the group getting the booster shot includes organ transplant recipients, cancer patients undergoing treatment, individuals with advanced or untreated HIV, among others.
- The panel clarified that this is only applicable to those who have received Pfizer or Moderna shots, and the third should match what they previously received.
The big picture: Scientists have debated who should receive booster shots and when, as the highly contagious Delta variant drives up the number of new cases across the country.
- About 2.7% of U.S. adults are immunocompromised, a group that encompasses people that are undergoing cancer treatment, living with HIV, or are organ transplant recipients, among others, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- More than 1 million people in the U.S. have received unauthorized booster shots of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, according to an internal CDC briefing document obtained by ABC News.
Go deeper ... Biden's big COVID challenge: Fading vaccines may demand boosters
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.