(Reuters) – US public health officials said a second injection of COVID-19 could be given up to six weeks from the first in situations where a booster dose could not be obtained immediately.
In most cases, the recommended dosage interval of three weeks for the vaccine from Pfizer Inc and four weeks for the vaccine from Moderna Inc should be followed, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in their guidance on Thursday.
However, “sometimes the situation is accentuated where it is very difficult to get to just in time,” U.S. infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Friday.
“I don’t see a big problem with that (six-week recommendation) if the situation on the ground means that the stress is such that you can’t do exactly 28 or 21 days,” added Fauci.
Moderna said there was no data to give an informed perspective on the CDC’s recommendation, while Pfizer did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Britain began spacing vaccine doses by up to 12 weeks, despite little data, saying the move could help more people get initial protection.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Anil D’Silva)