Sign up here for our daily coronavirus newsletter on what you need to know, and subscribe to our Covid-19 podcast for the latest news and analysis.
The UK is defending its decision to delay second-dose vaccinations as the best way to fight the coronavirus, while more countries are adopting a similar strategy in a race against increasing cases and new strains.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday there was great confidence that the first dose would provide ‘decent effectiveness’ against the virus and that the country’s plan would speed up vaccinations across the country.
“You want to protect as many people as possible as quickly as possible,” Hancock said in an interview with Sky News. “It’s the way to save most lives the fastest.”
Governments around the world are skarrel to review vaccination programs as research shows that strains from the UK, South Africa and Brazil are more contagious or possibly even more deadly than the original virus. And countries are tightening restrictions on international travel because scientists are judging whether the existing vaccines are so effective against the variants.
Supply issues also hamper the deployment of vaccines, increasing the pressure to give as many people as possible first shots, rather than holding back doses to complete the two-course regimen earlier. Both AstraZeneca Plc. and Pfizer Inc. said they would not be able to meet delivery targets in the coming weeks to Europe, which will increase the pressure on existing inventory. US states also had to delay their vaccinations due to problems obtaining doses.
France Saturday recommended that the time between the first and second shots be doubled to six weeks, concluding that this would result in at least 700,000 people being vaccinated in the first month.
Why the mutated Coronavirus variant is so worrying: QuickTake
The move to longer dose intervals could double the number of people receiving short-term protection against the virus, but it does pose risks. It is unclear how much benefit a single uptake of the vaccines currently available will offer, and there is a danger that mutations may flourish if immunity decreases after a first dose.
French leadership
The new French advice is for the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech SE, as well as another by Moderna Inc. Pfizer recommends that people receive their second dose within a period of three weeks, while Moderna gives a second chance within four weeks.
France’s move comes after January 21 statement from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that follow-up doses of Covid-19 vaccines may be given to six weeks later if it is not feasible to get it within the recommended interval. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration provides some flexibility for ‘modest delays’.
Research from Israel, which leads the world in vaccinations, shows that two infections and hospitalizations two days after a second shot were both about 60% lower than their peak. However, in an encouraging sign for the move to delay second doses, the trends started to shift about two weeks from the first shot.
The UK has already extended the maximum waiting time from three weeks to 12 weeks as Boris Johnson’s government aims to vaccinate 15 million people by mid-February. The UK was also vaccinated with the shot developed by AstraZeneca, which was most effective when applied with a gap of to 12 weeks.
The UK has already administered more than 6 million doses, most in Europe and Johnson tweeted on Saturday that every shot brings the UK closer to beating the virus. In France, just over 1 million people have been vaccinated.
Delays in dosing regimens face new questions from doctors, and the British Medical Association is asking the UK to “urgently review” its decision, which is delaying the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The BMA said in a statement that it supports delays to 42 days, or six weeks, citing international guidance from the World Health Organization that it could work, but warned that Britain’s plan goes far beyond that.
WHO’s guidance
“BMA members are also concerned that, despite the unpredictability of supplies, there are no guarantees that the second doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be available within twelve weeks,” the group said in a statement.
The WHO said there was no data supporting the UK move, but said changes in dosage regimens could be justified in emergencies.
According to the US CDC, there is “limited data on the efficacy” of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines outside the six-week interval, but if the second dose is administered later, there is no need to start the series again. ”
(Updates with Israel studied in the 10th paragraph)