Covid-19 vaccines: United States announces recall campaign in September
American student receiving a dose of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine in Wheeling, Ill., June 11, 2021. AP - Nam Y. Huh
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
American health authorities announced on Wednesday August 18 that Americans vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to receive a third injection, eight months after the second.
The campaign, intended to strengthen protection against the coronavirus, will begin from September 20.
Publicity
Read more
In a statement, signed by Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), and Janet Woodcock, Acting Head of the United States Medicines Agency (FDA), the next phase in the fight against Covid-19 in the United States is announced. Americans vaccinated with
Pfizer
and
Moderna
sera
will be able to receive a third injection starting the week of September 20. This third injection will take place eight months after the second.
This recall campaign is justified by the latest findings which "
clearly show that the protection against infection with SARS-Cov-2 begins to decline over time after the
first doses of vaccines
", explain the authorities in their press release, also signed by immunologist Anthony Fauci, White House adviser on the pandemic.
The progression of the
Delta variant
, which becomes the majority, confirms this trend towards "
reduced protection against mild and moderate cases of the disease
".
Federal health officials have developed a plan to begin offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots this fall.
Read full joint statement: https://t.co/uKs9QUHGQI.
pic.twitter.com/Tp0TjJTFsx
- CDC (@CDCgov) August 18, 2021
198 million Americans have received at least one dose
This decision has yet to be cleared by the FDA.
The first beneficiaries will be "
residents of retirement homes
", "the
elderly
" and "
many health professionals
", the first categories of the population to have been able to be vaccinated in the United States from December 2020, when Pfizer and Moderna sera were authorized.
Last week, authorities had already authorized an additional dose for some immunocompromised people.
For Americans who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one injection, a booster dose will "
probably be necessary
", officials say.
A decision will be made when the information about this serum is known "
in the coming weeks
".
14 million Americans have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, out of the approximately 198 million Americans who received at least one dose (nearly 60% of the US population).
For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) is still pushing to postpone recall operations in order to avoid widening the vaccine inequalities between rich and poor countries.
A recommendation rejected by the United States.
(With
AFP
)
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
United States
Coronavirus
Health and medicine
Vaccines