CDC Alters Covid Vaccine Guidance For Americans 12-64 Years Old & For Moderately Immunocompromised Individuals

deadline.com:

The Centers For Disease Control today shared with clinicians newly-revised Covid-19 vaccination guidelines for those ages 12-64, people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised and those who had the Janssen vaccine.In issuing the changes, the CDC emphasized that the approved Covid vaccines are safe and that they have already averted an estimated 1.1 million additional virus-related deaths through November 2021.Out of concern over the documented but relatively tiny number of myocarditis (heart inflammation) cases that have appeared post-vaccination in younger patients, the CDC recommended a longer interval between 1st and 2nd doses.“Some studies in adolescents and adults have shown the small risk of myocarditis associated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines might be reduced and peak antibody responses and vaccine effectiveness may be increased with an interval longer than 4 weeks,” the CDC report said.More specifically, it indicated that “some people ages 12 through 64 years—and especially males ages 12 through 39 years old may benefit from getting their second Covid-19 mRNA vaccine dose 8 weeks after receiving their first dose.”The new guidance for those Americans isn’t just about avoiding myocarditis.

The same U.K. study that found rates of myocarditis/pericarditis were lower with an extended interval between the first and second doses, also found that an “extended primary series interval may improve immunogenicity and vaccine effectiveness.” For some others, the guidance said that providers should continue to recommend the 3-week (for Pfizer-BioNTech) or 4-week (for Moderna) intervals.

Those include patients who are at higher risk of having an inadequate response to the first vaccine dose, people who are moderately or