Two top U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials pointed out that anyone who received a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine must get two full doses, CNN reported.
Suggested COVID-19 vaccine changes are premature
Las Vegas Health Care Workers Receive COVID-19 Vaccinations LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 16: Dr. David Obert gives a thumbs-up after receiving a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada on December 16, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. UMCSN received its first allotment of the vaccine on Monday and began vaccinating its front-line workers treating patients with COVID-19, including staff from the hospital’s intensive care units and emergency department. The state has averaged 20 deaths from COVID-19 per day over the past two weeks.
On Monday, two top FDA officials dismissed the idea of stretching the COVID-19 vaccine supply. They said that people who expect the possibility of doing just one dose or cutting doses in half misinterpreting the vaccines' data. FDA Commissioner Dr. Peter Marks and Dr. Stephen Hahn, who heads the FDA's vaccine division, said in a statement that they follow the discussion and news reports regarding reducing the vaccine doses to extend the length of time between doses, mixing and matching vaccines, or changing the dose into half to immunize more people against the coronavirus.
The FDA officials explained that the suggestions are reasonable, but the changes to the FDA authorized schedules, or dosing of the COVID-19 vaccines is not rooted in the available evidence. They added a significant risk of placing public health at risk without appropriate data support from the vaccine administration changes. It would undermine the historic vaccination efforts of protecting the population from the coronavirus infection.
The FDA would consider giving half-doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to people aged 18 to 55, Operation Warp Speed adviser Moncef Slaoui told CNN on Sunday.
Read also: Operation Warp Speed Chief Dr. Slaoui: Third COVID-19 Vaccine Could see FDA Approval In 4-6 Weeks
Earlier data revealed the vaccine appeared to be effective antibody responses among volunteers below age 55 who received the full 100 micrograms or half dose, Slaoui said.
The full data has not yet been published, though an FDA briefing document references these "comparable" immune responses from Moderna's phase 2 study. However, these findings covered only a few people who did not follow for long to see if their immune responses held over time, Marks and Hahn said.
More than 70% of the U.S. COVID-19 vaccines remain unused
More than two-thirds of over 15.4 million COVID-19 vaccines distributed in the country have been administered, as per the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to Newsweek via MSN, On Monday, 9 AM, only 4,563,260 people received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Therefore, more than 70.4% or a total of 10,855,240 doses remain unused.
The people initiating vaccination and the CDC's report of doses distributed include totals for both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Since December 13, 2020, COVID-19 vaccine doses distributed represent the recorded count shipped in the CDC's Vaccine Tracking System.
The government health body explains that a massive difference between the number of people initiating vaccination and the number of doses distributed is expected in the vaccination program due to various reasons, including management of available vaccine stocks by federal pharmacy partners and jurisdictions as well as delays in reporting of administered doses.
South Dakota was reported with the most number of people per capita who received the first COVID-19 vaccine dose as of Monday, with 3,042 per 100,000 people initiated vaccination, as per the CDC.
Meanwhile, Kansas is the fifth-highest daily case per 100,000 people in the past seven days. The state has the least number of people per capita who initiated vaccination with 690 per 100,000 people who received the first dose.
Read also: 'Miracle COVID-19 Patient' Wakes From Coma a Day Before Her Family Decides to Remove Life Support
