US Officials Debate Efficacy of Half Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine

Originally, OWS anticipated that 20 million vaccine doses would have been distributed by the end of 2020. As of January 2, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 13 million doses have gone out, and 4.23 million people in the US have received at least one dose, primarily frontline healthcare workers and nursing home residents so far. Going off-schedule for lower-risk adults would allow twice as many people to receive their first shot, Slaoui says. The vaccine’s urgency has become more pronounced as a more contagious strain of SARS-CoV-2 that originated in the UK has now been found in the US.

If reducing the volume of the first dose is approved by the FDA, the rationing would only affect the vaccine made by Moderna, Slaoui explains, which he claims would still provide the same protection as a full dose. Officials from Moderna have not yet verified if that is the case. Germany is also deliberating holding off on the second shot to spread around more initial doses, while Denmark has already approved the measure, Reuters reports.

Officials from Pfizer and BioNTech released a joint statement last week in response to the UK’s desire to hold off on the second dose from the initial plan of 21 days to as long as 12 weeks after the first. “The safety and efficacy of the vaccine has not been evaluated on different dosing schedules as the majority of trial participants received the second dose within the window specified in the study design,” the statement reads, according to Reuters.

Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, along with other medical experts around the globe, say they disagree that rationing would be effective, The New York Times reports. Fauci says that the US will not be following the UK’s lead to delay the second dose, should the British government decide to do that. Still, it will be down to the FDA to decide if altered dosing will be permitted.

Speaking on CNN, Leana Wen, the former health commissioner of Baltimore, agrees with Fauci’s take. “I understand the desire to stretch out the doses that we have and to say, ‘Hey, if one dose can offer some partial protection, why not give it to as many people as we can?’ The problem, though, is that is not how the studies were conducted.”