CDC signs off on 3rd dose for some in US

WASHINGTON : Advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention voted in favour of a recommendation that people with weakened immune systems should get three shots of Covid vaccine, a key step for protection of the vulnerable population.

The CDC’s advisory committee on immunisation practices 11 members voted unanimously Friday in favour of the third-dose recommendation for some people with weakened immune systems. CDC director Rochelle Walensky signed off on the recommendation.

The US Food and Drug Administration expanded emergency use authorisations for vaccines from Moderna and the partnership of Pfizer and BioNTech late on Thursday to include the extra dose. Organ transplant recipients and patients considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise will be eligible for the extra shots.

The FDA decision was supported by a study published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that a third dose of Moderna’s vaccine significantly raised levels of Covid-fighting antibodies in 55% of transplant patients.

Among those who got a placebo rather than the extra shot, just 18% generated the desired antibody levels, the study found.

Sydney tightens curbs

Authorities are tightening restrictions, increasing fines and ramping up policing in Sydney in a bid to contain the delta outbreak in Australia’s most populous city, after cases surged to a record on Saturday. Melbourne is in the second week of its sixth lockdown since the pandemic began.

New South Wales state recorded 466 new cases in the local community on Saturday, up 19% from the previous record the day before.

The vast majority of new cases were in Sydney, which is failing to contain the outbreak despite entering its eighth week of lockdown against the Delta variant.

Meanwhile, Iran is to impose a one-week lockdown and a ban on road travel amid a fifth coronavirus surge in the worst-hit country in West Asia, state television reported on Saturday.

All non-essential businesses and offices will have to close under the nationwide lockdown from Monday to August 21, in an effort to curb the highly contagious Delta variant.

The health ministry reported 29,700 new cases on Saturday, and 466 daily deaths, down from a record daily toll of 588 fatalities on Monday.

We have to accept that this is the worst situation New South Wales has been in since day one. GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN, state premier