People with certain underlying conditions can receive a COVID-19 vaccine as long as they have not had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient of the vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“Adults of any age with certain underlying medical conditions are at greater risk for serious diseases due to the virus that causes COVID-19,” the agency noted in recommendations published Saturday.
According to Wednesday, 338,656 people died from COVID-19 and 19.5 million people were infected, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, 1,792,786 died from the virus and more than 82 million people tested positive; it is mostly not responsible for those who are asymptomatic.
People with weakened immune systems, including some people living with HIV, may be at increased risk for a severe case of COVID-19 and may be given a vaccine, the CDC said.
But they need to take note of the limitations in the vaccine safety data, the agency added, which are not yet available to the groups. Although clinical trials have included people with HIV, safety information specific to the population is not yet available.
People living with autoimmune conditions can get an mRNA coronavirus vaccine, according to the CDC, but they too should be aware that no such safety data are available.
Those who have previously had Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare but potentially serious autoimmune condition, can also get the vaccine. “With a few exceptions, the Independent Immunization Practices Advisory Committee (ACIP) does not contain general guidelines for best practice for vaccination, nor does it have a history of GBS as a precaution for vaccination with other vaccines,” the agency said.
People who have had Bell’s paralysis before, usually a temporary weakness or paralysis of the face, can also get the vaccine. While COVID-19 vaccine trials contain some reports of Bell’s paralysis, the Food and Drug Administration does not consider it above the rate expected in the general population, and has not concluded that the vaccination caused such cases. not, says the CDC. .
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People vaccinated against COVID-19 should still follow current mitigation measures such as masking, social distance and good hand hygiene until experts better understand how well the vaccines protect people in real life, the CDC says.
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The new guidance came weeks after the FDA granted emergency use, a less stringent approval than full FDA approval used to expedite the use of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines, for Pfizer PFE candidates,
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and Modern MRNA,
Both vaccines require two doses and use mRNA technology, which teaches the body’s cells to create proteins that elicit an immune response.
The fact sheets for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines contain a complete list of their ingredients.
According to a CDC count, 2.1 million people in the US received their first vaccine doses on Monday morning and 11.4 million doses were distributed.
Public health authorities have recommended that health care workers and long-term care facilities be first in line for vaccination. Next, essential workers should be in front and adults 75 and older, followed by adults 65 to 74, people 16 to 64 years with high-risk medical conditions, and essential workers not previously included, according to CDC recommendations.
The average person in the US who does not fall into a high priority category can probably be vaccinated in the spring or summer, experts say.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine showed 95% efficacy in clinical trials, while Moderna’s vaccine was approximately 94% effective. But people vaccinated against COVID-19 still need to apply current mitigation measures, such as masking, social distance and good hand hygiene, until experts better understand how well the vaccines protect people in real life, the CDC says.
As news about vaccines sheds some light on what was a dark year for millions of people, the U.S. had an average of 183,140 daily COVID-19 cases in the past week, according to a New York Times tracker; at least 1,899 people died of the disease on Monday. According to the COVID Tracking Project, the number of current hospitalizations reached a record high of 121,235 on Monday.