(Washington) U.S. health officials announced on Friday that they had given the green light to a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine for all fully vaccinated adults at least six months ago.
The United States Medicines Agency (FDA) has indicated that this emergency use authorization granted to Pfizer and Moderna is helping “to provide continued protection against COVID-19, including serious consequences that can occur, such as ‘hospitalization or death’.
The two pharmaceutical groups had earlier announced that they had obtained authorization from the FDA.
“This emergency use authorization comes at a critical time, as we enter the winter months and face an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the country.” , said Moderna boss Stéphane Bancel.
People aged 18 and over who received the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine in the United States were already entitled to a second dose, two months after their injection.
For people vaccinated with Pfizer and Moderna, the third dose was previously reserved for certain categories of the population only: those over 65 years of age, adults at risk of developing a severe form of the disease, or those highly exposed to the virus due for example of their work.
The announcement comes as cases are on the rise again in the United States, with an average of 85,000 new COVID-19 cases daily (up from around 70,000 at the end of October), and around 1,000 deaths a day.
Some US states, including California, had already started allowing booster doses for all adults, even before recommendations from health agencies, in hopes of containing the spread of the epidemic before the holiday season. .