San Francisco announced on Tuesday that residents who got the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine can now get a "supplemental dose," a day before the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on booster shots for people in wealthy countries who are already fully vaccinated.
Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Public Health in the city, told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday that neither the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor the San Francisco Department of Public Health are recommending a subsequent dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines for people inoculated with Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine.
"We have not changed our policy as a health department, and as a city, with regard to following CDC guidelines for administering vaccines,” Dr. Colfax said. "If people have received a Johnson & Johnson and are requesting a second shot, we will accommodate them. But our policy has not changed, nor has it changed at Zuckerberg San Francisco Hospital."
Many countries, including France, Germany, Israel and several in the Middle East, have started administering booster shots amid the spread of the delta variant. Pfizer, the U.S.-based manufacturer of one of the three vaccines approved in the country, last month began pushing for approval on a third dose.
Nearly 7% of the 650,000 fully vaccinated San Franciscans received a Johnson & Johnson dose. While San Francisco says 70% of the city has been fully vaccinated, many poorer and developing countries have not come close to reaching – let alone clearing – that threshold.
In a briefing Wednesday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for wealthier countries to not distribute booster shots until at least the end of September. He cited the agency’s goal of having at least 10% of every country fully vaccinated by the end of 2021, and said the Group of 20 large economies "has a vital leadership role to play as the countries that are the biggest producers, the biggest consumers and the biggest donors of COVID-19 vaccines."
The U.S. currently accounts for nearly 15% of the world’s fully vaccinated population, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The country accounts for about 4% of the global population.
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