The Food and Drug Administration is discussing a move to administer modern half-dose coronavirus vaccines to distribute the jab more widely among the population, according to a senior official at Operation Warp Speed (OWS).
Comments by Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the OWS director of operations, came on Sunday when he told Margaret Brennan of CBS that halving the dose volume in vaccines given to people aged 18 to 55 translates into a “response identical immune “to the maximum, Dose of 100 micrograms.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed, speaks at the White House’s Rose Garden, Friday, November 13, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
This plan would inoculate twice as many people, said Slaoui, calling it a “more responsible approach based on facts and data”.
“We are discussing with Moderna and the FDA, it is clear that in the end it will be a decision by the FDA to accelerate the injection of half the volume,” he continued.
Slaoui’s comments came to light after he was pressured to detail how the federal government is doing to help states actually administer doses in the arms of Americans, a slow effort plagued by logistical hurdles like tense staff and funding.
A former FDA chief later agreed that adjusting the dosage would speed up vaccination efforts.
“They can change it,” former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC co-host Monday, talking about halving Moderna’s dose volumes. “That would certainly increase the supply.”
On Monday morning, the federal government distributed at least 13 million doses, and more than 4.2 million vaccines went into the arms of Americans, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials said there are likely to be delays in reporting, however.
While UK authorities are supporting the decision to spread inoculations by 12 weeks between the first and the second dose, Slaoui and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, rejected this approach.
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“I think it is unreasonable when vaccines were developed with two doses administered 21 days apart, or 28 days apart and where we have data on their safety and effectiveness,” said Slaoui. “We don’t have data on a dose if we leave people for a month, two months, three months with perhaps incomplete immunity, decreased immunity, perhaps even the wrong type of induced immune response that is then corrected by a second dose.”
Although Americans appear to be gaining confidence in the vaccine, tampering with the process could threaten to undo the newly acquired confidence.