The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday authorized a fifth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for immunocompromised individuals.
Not to be confused with the likely forthcoming fourth dose of the COVID vaccine, dubbed the “second booster” for otherwise healthy people and – a plan supported by the Biden White House – this will actually be the fifth dose for those affected, as the FDA had previously rolled out a booster dose in October 2021 for certain immunocompromised individuals following completion of a three-dose “primary” injection series.
Thus, certain immunocompromised people who received three initial injections plus one booster since then now have the opportunity to get a fifth jab.
“This action will now make a second booster dose of these vaccines available to other populations at higher risk for severe disease, hospitalization and death. Emerging evidence suggests that a second booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine improves protection against severe COVID-19 and is not associated with new safety concerns,” reads a statement released by the FDA.
The fifth injection may be given to certain immunocompromised individuals ages 50 and older at least four months after their fourth injection.
The same goes for children as young as 12 years old “who have undergone solid organ transplantation, or who are living with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise.”
“Current evidence suggests some waning of protection over time against serious outcomes from COVID-19 in older and immunocompromised individuals. Based on an analysis of emerging data, a second booster dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine could help increase protection levels for these higher-risk individuals,” said FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research director Peter Marks.
“Additionally, the data show that an initial booster dose is critical in helping to protect all adults from the potentially severe outcomes of COVID-19. So, those who have not received their initial booster dose are strongly encouraged to do so,” he said.
The booster mania only applies to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
The agency insists that “known and potential benefits of a second COVID-19 vaccine booster dose with either of these vaccines outweigh their known and potential risks in these populations.”
After Congress authorized $9 billion for the first two-dose COVID-19 vaccines and a third injection as a booster, the Biden White House now says more money is needed for a fourth dose, Valiant News reported last Thursday.
The fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose was recently announced to be in development by Moderna and Pfizer, who hope to have it approved in the fall, Valiant News reported. According to the big pharma companies, it is set to contain a different mRNA formula targeting the omicron variant of the virus.
More recently, the controversial injections were unable to prevent triple-vaxxed Democrats including former President Barack Obama, 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and Deputy WH Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre from being infected with COVID-19, though each of them urged vaccination and credit the jabs for their mild symptoms.
