Nurse Mary Ezzat administers a Pfizer COVID-19 booster trigger to Jessica M. at UCI Medical Center in Orange, California, on Thursday, August 19, 2021.
Jeff Gritchen | MediaNews Group | Orange County Registration via Getty Images
Nearly 1 million booster shots of Covid-19 have already been administered in the United States since health officials authorized the administration of additional shots of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to people with weakened immune systems on August 12, according to data collected by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. .
To date, some 955,000 fully vaccinated people have received an additional dose of a Covid vaccine, according to data collected by the CDC. That number includes those who had previously received two doses of Pfizer or Modern vaccines or a dose of Johnson and Johnson, according to the agency.
It is unclear whether all of these people were considered immunocompromised.
In approving reinforcing traits in people with weak immune systems, which includes cancer, HIV patients, and organ transplant patients, CDC officials cited several small studies that showed they did not produce an adequate immune response after receiving two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. FDA and CDC officials did not approve booster doses of the J&J vaccine earlier this month, saying they expected more data.
Some Americans were already finding ways to get additional doses of Covid vaccines on their own before formal approval, some even went so far as to receive additional vaccines from different companies, a practice known as “mixing and combination “.
Currently, the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration are reviewing whether booster shots are administered to the general population.
President Joe Biden said the United States plans to widely distribute Covid’s booster shots starting the week of Sept. 20, pending authorization from FDA and CDC scientists.
The CDC Advisory Committee on CDC Immunization Practices discussed the need to strengthen on Monday, saying data supporting widespread distribution was limited.
Dr. Helen Keipp Talbot, a voting member of the CDC advisory group, told the committee on Monday that many southern hospitals are already administering third doses to health care workers and patients.
New Jersey officials said more than 36,000 additional doses were administered Monday to health workers and front-line seniors with immunocompromised people.
State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said the state is looking to identify more people who meet the requirements to get a third dose.
“Nationally, we believe that approximately 3% of the population is immunocompromised, so we really ask private medical directors of long-term care to do an in-depth analysis of these medical records and identify individuals who should “Be in line to get the right third dose. Now,” she said.
– CNBC’s Bob Towey and Nate Rattner contributed to this report.