PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The CDC's advisory board is recommending third shots of mRNA vaccines for certain immunocompromised people.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously to recommend a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, but only for a select group.
The committee determined most people do not need a booster or a third dose at this time.
But that committee said about three million people who did not get adequate protection from the initial shots would benefit.
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They include organ-transplant recipients, people undergoing cancer treatment, certain blood stem cell recipients, and people with advanced or untreated HIV.
The committee workgroup found there is adequate vaccine supply to give those third shots.
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It recommended using the same vaccine as the person initially received. In other words, if someone got the Moderna vaccine, they should get a Moderna third shot. The committee said if the same vaccine's third dose is not available, the other vaccine mRNA vaccine could be substituted.
The committee said this recommendation is only for people who got Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Studies continue on the value of another shot of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
Dr. Emily Blumberg, the director of transplant infectious disease at the University of Pennsylvania, said studies show people with suppressed immune systems have a blunted response to the first two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and that a third dose gets them closer to where they need to be.
Does the need for a third shot mean the vaccine isn’t working? Just the opposite.
Blumberg said a year ago, ICU beds were full of COVID-19 patients. Now, she said the majority of those who are in the hospital are people who did not get the shot.