CDC Advisers Weigh Second Shot Delay to Quicken Vaccine Uptake

U.S. public health advisers are weighing recommendations for extending the interval between the first and second doses of Covid-19 vaccines, a potential strategy for quickly getting protection to more people amid the spread of new variants.

A working group of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has debated the idea, according to a person familiar with the discussions. It hasn’t been decided if the full committee will take up the issue and provide official guidance, the person said. Jose Romero, chairman of the committee and Arkansas health secretary, declined to comment because the deliberations are confidential.

U.S. health officials have rejected a dose-stretching policy adopted by the U.K. that allows up to 12 weeks between Covid shots. Most drugmakers have concurred, saying that policies should follow the protocols used in the shots’ testing, in which the intervals were set at three or four weeks. As dangerous variants threaten to boost U.S. cases in coming weeks, however, some states are asking what they can do to widen protection.

“We know that until we have sufficient vaccine, there is the requirement to have some sort of prioritization scheme,” Clay Marsh, West Virginia’s Covid-19 czar, said in an interview. “The next question is, is it better to put a single dose in the arms of more people?”

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