CDC group weighs third shot for immunocompromised people للأشخاص

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Gert Vanden Weigengert | Bloomberg | Getty Images

An advisory group from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is studying whether fully vaccinated Americans with weakened immune systems need a booster dose of the Covid vaccine after data showed they are less likely to have antibodies to fight the disease and more likely to suffer from disease. The infection is called penetration.

The immunosuppressed population accounts for 44% of hospitalized Covid breakouts — an infection in a fully vaccinated individual, according to a slide presented Thursday at a meeting of the Agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The presentation said the segment of the population, which includes patients with cancer, HIV or those who have had organ transplants, represents only about 2.7% of the adult population in the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory committee is also meeting to discuss the safety profile of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The agency said people who are immunocompromised are more likely to contract serious illness from Covid and are at greater risk of transmitting the virus to family and friends.

Studies show that a third dose of the vaccine may help patients whose immune systems also don’t respond to the first or second dose. Four small studies cited by the CDC showed that 16% to 80% of people with compromised immune systems did not have detectable antibodies to fight Covid after two shots.

Among immunosuppressed patients who had no detectable antibody response, 33% to 50% developed an antibody response after receiving an additional dose, according to the CDC.

“Emerging data indicates that an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in immunocompromised individuals enhances the antibody response and increases the proportion of responders,” according to one of the slides presented at the meeting.

The meeting comes as federal officials say that booster doses of vaccines for the general population are not necessary at this time.

The advisory committee cannot recommend additional doses to anyone until the Food and Drug Administration grants full approval for Covid vaccines or amends emergency use authorizations.

Other countries, such as France, are already giving third doses to people with cancer or other immunocompromised. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention group previously said that more vulnerable Americans, such as the elderly or transplant recipients, may need the extra dose.

Some doctors have been lobbying for the United States to allow immunosuppressed residents to get an extra dose, according to Dr. Dan Baruch, an immunologist at Harvard Medical School who helped develop the J&J vaccine.

“The most difficult to vaccinate people are those who are immunosuppressed,” he said, adding that early data shows that a third shot may be safe and effective for this population.

CNBC’s Rich Mendes and Robert Toye contributed to this article.

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