Health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are considering imposing new changes to Covid-19 vaccine guidance that would lengthen the amount of time between doses to decrease myocarditis’ risk.
According to data, around 33 million people in the US aged 12 and 39 remain unvaccinated.
These proposed changes, according to CDC, would apply to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and are aimed at improving the shots’ effectiveness and lowering the risk of heart inflammation (myocarditis) for immunocompromised people, who generally don’t respond as well to vaccines and are the only Americans advised to get four vaccine doses.
This group of people, in line with the outgoing CDC guidance, should receive three vaccine doses within two months and followed by a fourth dose of the vaccine around five months after the third.
According to the new changes the CDC is now suggesting, the immunocompromised people should get their fourth shot as soon as three months after the third.
During Friday’s presentation Dr. Sara Oliver, a CDC official, pointed out that the risk of myocarditis appears to reduce after an extended interval between doses and that the risk of heart inflammation is lowered if the doses are given eight weeks apart.
Myocarditis is a side effect seen most common with young men that have received the Pfizer and Moderna shots, though it appears to be more common in those who received Moderna, according to Dr. Nicola Klein, a vaccine researcher at Kaiser Permanente Northern California.
These side effects have allegedly been rare and in most cases are mild and resolve quickly.
CDC update applies to young people aged 12 and up who received Pfizer and to people ages 18 and up who receive the Moderna or J&J vaccine. According to current guidance, the first two doses of Pfizer’s vaccine are given three weeks apart, while Moderna’s first two doses are given four weeks apart.
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