The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) is now claiming that all Alaskans who are “immunocompromised” should get a third COVID shot. The recommendation, issued Aug. 20, follows lockstep with new CDC advice based on some studies showing decreased protections for those who were previously deemed “fully vaccinated” after taking two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna shot.
In addition to recommending a third shot for immunocompromised people, the Alaska health department said the state is also “closely following” news about a federal plan to offer booster shots to the general public.
On the one hand, the notice claims that the latest studies show the vaccines “still provide strong protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death,” but it then states that the “new information, along with the high transmissibility of the Delta variant, point to the need to strengthen the protections provided by the vaccines.”
Alaska health department says the latest data shows that “many immunocompromised people are unable to mount a robust enough immune response after the initial two-dose primary mRNA vaccine series is completed.”
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Currently the third dose of Pfizer or Moderna are only available to people whose immune systems are deemed compromised. Those who have had the Johnson & Johnson shot are not addressed in the new recommendations.
The new guidelines appear to contradict the CDC’s repeated assurances that people were deemed “fully vaccinated” after having two doses of Pfizer and Moderna.
While booster shots for the general public are not yet authorized by the FDA, the Alaska Dept. of Health and Social Services is already planning to offer them later this fall under the expectation that the FDA will grant approval.
“It is anticipated that Alaskans will be advised to schedule their booster dose appointment starting eight months after their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines,” the Alaska health department stated. “Recommendations for the single-dose J&J vaccine will be forthcoming, pending the results of ongoing studies.”
On Aug. 19, White House COVID advisor Anthony Fauci told MSNBC that he believes all Americans will require a COVID booster in the future.
