A New York Fire Department worker for Emergency Medical Services (FDNY EMS) receives a modern COVID-19 vaccine amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York , USA, December 23, 2020.
Carlo Allegri | Reuters
The head of the federal government’s Covid-19 vaccine program said on Sunday that health officials are exploring the idea of giving a large group of Americans half the doses of a vaccine to speed up the launch.
Moncef Slaoui, chief of Operation Warp Speed, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program that one way to speed up immunizations against Covid-19 was to give two half-volume doses of the Modern vaccine to some individuals.
“We know that for the Moderna vaccine to give half the dose to people between 18 and 55 years old – two doses, half the dose, which means exactly reaching the goal of immunizing twice the number of people with the doses we have – we know induces a immune response identical to the 100 microgram dose, “said Slaoui.
“And therefore, we are in negotiations with Moderna and the FDA – it is clear that in the end it will be a FDA decision – to accelerate the injection of half the volume,” he added.
Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, speaks to President Donald J. Trump during a vaccine development event at the White House’s Rose Garden on Friday, May 15, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images
The comments came in response to a question about why the United States was not using the strategy to administer all available doses of vaccines now, although approved vaccines require a second round of injections to be fully effective. The UK has taken this approach, with the hope that continued production will allow second shots to be fired in the future.
Slaoui said he thought it would be a mistake to make a decision that was not supported by the trial data. White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci made similar comments on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program earlier on Sunday, saying the strategy “goes against science” and would not solve the problems facing the launch in the States United.
“The idea of extending the time so that you can get more people, that is, if you don’t have enough vaccine and many people in the queue waiting to receive the vaccine,” said Fauci. “This is not our problem now. We have a vaccine. We need to put it in people’s arms. It really is the right solution to the wrong problem.”
The FDA and Moderna did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The discussion about different vaccination approaches arises at a time when the vaccine launch in the United States failed to meet the objectives of Operation Warp Speed and the pandemic continues to devastate the country. President Donald Trump blamed states for slow implementation, as the number of vaccines administered is behind the number sent and delivered.
Health officials intended to inject 20 million Americans with a vaccine by the end of the year. However, only about 4.2 million had received vaccines by January 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The last seven-day average for new coronavirus cases in the U.S. is 205,093, according to John Hopkins University. That number increased 8% week after week, although tests and reports tend to be inconsistent during the holidays. The country also has an average of more than 2,600 deaths per day attributed to the virus, according to Johns Hopkins.