US debates whether UK approach is better on COVID-19 vaccinations

US debates whether UK approach is better on COVID-19 vaccinations A new approach to COVID-19 vaccination just adopted in the United Kingdom is gaining traction in America, but is dividing public health experts. Nathaniel Weixel TheHill

A new approach to COVID-19 vaccination just adopted in the United Kingdom is gaining traction in America, but is dividing public health experts.

In an effort to push out as many doses of the vaccine as possible, British officials will no longer hold back the second of two doses.

Instead, they will prioritize giving people the first dose and delay the second shot for as long as three months.

“Everyone will still receive their second dose and this will be within 12 weeks of their first. The second dose completes the course and is important for longer-term protection,” the U.K. government said in a statement.

“With two vaccines now approved, we will be able to vaccinate a greater number of people who are at highest risk, protecting them from the disease and reducing mortality and hospitalization.”

Each of the two vaccines currently authorized for use in the U.S. require two doses, given either three or four weeks apart.

Under the current distribution plan, the administration's Operation Warp Speed only delivers half the number of needed doses to states every week. The other half remain in a warehouse, held back to ensure there is enough supply for a second dose.

With the U.S. vaccination campaign crawling out of the gate and more than 3,000 people dying of COVID-19 every day, proponents of the British policy don't understand why the administration isn't using every single vaccine it has.

“Why not vaccinate as many people with a single dose as you possibly can, with the intention that you should backfill that second dose later?” said Christopher Gill, a professor of global health at the Boston University School of Public Health. ...

Moncef Slaoui, chief science adviser for Operation Warp Speed, said he does not support a policy with no evidence behind it.

“It's very important, I think, to use a vaccine based on how you have studied it. For me, the biggest concern if we were to extend the time period between the first and second dose is what happens to persistence of protection,” Slaoui told reporters Wednesday. ...