West Virginia’s top covid-19 response adviser praised recent moves to increase booster shots and vaccine flexibility.
“We are very excited that the CDC’s advisory committee on immunization practices has now clarified what the FDA approved for boosters,” said Dr. Clay Marsh during a pandemic response briefing today.
“We know that boosters are a very important part of our strategy to reduce the risk of covid-19 spread and severe covid-19 in the state of West Virginia.”
Because of the CDC’s approval, people who earlier received shots of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson shots may now receive booster shots as soon as today.
Those two vaccine options join the one produced by Pfizer, which received booster approval weeks ago.
“The evidence shows that all three COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the United States are safe — as demonstrated by the over 400 million vaccine doses already given,” stated Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“And, they are all highly effective in reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even in the midst of the widely circulating delta variant.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had earlier approved booster shots for Modern and Johnson & Johnson. The agency also authorized mixing and matching of the vaccines for booster shots, providing flexibility for people who received initial shots of one kind to receive a booster shot of another.
“To try to make it simple, both the FDA and the CDC decided that for a second dose — which is six months after your two shots of Pfizer or Moderna — or two months after your first shot of Johnson & Johnson that people can choose any one of the three vaccines,” Marsh said.
“You can choose whichever vaccine you think is right for you.”
Marsh called those options exciting.
“That’s something we think is a cornerstone of our strategy moving forward — that getting first and second vaccines in all West Virginians who are eligible is very important, but also getting booster doses into all of our citizens who are eligible is equally important.”
Of vaccine-eligible West Virginians, about 58 percent are considered fully vaccinated, according to state figures.
Those numbers are generally lower in younger age groups.
West Virginia’s seven-day average vaccination rate has been declining steadily, just at 713 through Thursday. Last Thursday, the seven-day average was 843. The Thursday before that it was 1,050.
“If you’ve not chosen to be vaccinated yet, please do so,” Marsh said.
Marsh looked forward to impending approval of covid-19 immunization for children ages 5 to 11. Pfizer today announced its vaccine is safe and 90.7 percent effective against symptomatic covid-19 in children ages 5 to 11. An FDA advisory committee is scheduled to meet next week to discuss whether to recommend the vaccine for authorization for that age group.
“It looks very, very good that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine at a much lower concentration — about a third of the dose of the adult vaccine — is highly effective,” Marsh said.
“We really want parents to very much consider choosing to vaccinate their children. We know that very few children can get severe or life-threatening illness from covid, but some can.”