PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- As frustration mounts over the slower-than-promised rollout of coronavirus vaccines in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is telling other health officials to not cut corners by altering dosing amounts or schedules.
With a statement released on Monday, the FDA sought "to remind the public about the importance of receiving COVID-19 vaccines according to how they’ve been authorized by the FDA in order to safely receive the level of protection observed in the large randomized trials supporting their effectiveness."
The agency says changing dosing plans now would be "premature and not rooted solidly in the available evidence."
So far, around 4.5 million Americans have been vaccinated, well short of the 20 million through the end of 2020 that federal officials initially projected.
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The FDA released the statement a day after Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief advisor for Operation Warp Speed, said that giving half-doses of Moderna's vaccine to people between 18 and 55 years old could still be effective and would lead to more available doses for people.
"Which means exactly achieving the objective of immunizing double the number of people with the doses we have. We know it induces identical immune response to the hundred microgram dose, and therefore we are in discussion with Moderna and with the FDA," Slaoui said on CBS’s Face The Nation.
He did preface those remarks by saying making such a change without data "would not be responsible." The FDA on Monday agreed.
"Without appropriate data supporting such changes in vaccine administration, we run a significant risk of placing public health at risk, undermining the historic vaccination efforts to protect the population from COVID-19."
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The agency says available data continues to support two full doses for the vaccines that are available now with 21 days between shots for the Pfizer product and 28 days for the Moderna product.