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With US vaccination numbers well behind schedule, health authorities are exploring a number of possibilities to increase those numbers. One is to halve the dose of the Moderna vaccine to stretch the stock, a proposal the FDA is expected to consider this week. But like the New York Times reports, another controversial proposal is widespread, calling for the second shot to be delayed – the “booster” shot – so more people can get their first shot. Three vaccines currently in use around the world, those of Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, require people to get a second dose per Hill about three or four weeks later. But advocates say the timeline is being pushed back so more people get their first chance and at least some degree of protection. Not everyone, including dr. Anthony Fauci, agrees.
“I will not advocate for that,” he said last week, adding on Sunday that the strategy was “contrary to science,” CNBC reported. There is not enough data to support the idea that the plan is safe, Fauci says. But in a Washington Post two health officials claim it makes sense to delay the second survey. Cases are increasing and inventory is limited, and something needs to be given, write Robert Wachter of the University of California at San Francisco and Ashish Jha of Brown University. Yes, the data is not complete, but what we do have is ‘reassuring’, they write. “In a perfect world, there would be no compromises. But if by 2020 we learn something, then it is that we are not living in a perfect world.” The UK has taken the approach of delaying the second shot, Hill said. About 4 million Americans have been vaccinated, well below the target of more than 20 million. (Read more stories about coronavirus vaccines.)