“Good protection for many (with 1 shot) is better than good protection for a few. 2,000 people a day die because they can’t get the first # covid19 shot – not because they can’t get a second,” Adams wrote in a report.
Twitter threadIn another tweet, Adams wrote, “Push out all the doses NOW and lean toward production!”
Adams added a link to an article published Monday by The Washington Post in which Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to the Biden administration, said the U.S. must adhere to a two-dose regimen for the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
Fauci told the paper there were “risks on both sides” of switching to a single dose or sticking with the two.
‘We tell people [two shots] is what to do … and then we say, ‘Oops, we’ve changed our mind’? “said the best disease expert.” I think that would be challenging to send messages to say the least. “
On Tuesday, Adams tried to clarify his comments.
‘I’m not saying it is [100 emoji] the right way to go. I say there is enough data / evidence to suggest this is not the case [100 emoji] the wrong way – and with 2,000 (unvaccinated) people dying a day, it’s worth giving states the flexibility to try, ”he
tweetedAmid low vaccine supply, a number of experts have advocated delaying second doses to give more people their first, and some research has suggested a high degree of transient protection from just one dose. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and top U.S. officials have pushed back on this, saying it’s unclear how long that protection lasts, arguing for the need to stick to the evidence from clinical trials.
During a discussion about vaccines on Monday at the meeting of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, experts said two doses protect people better from coronavirus variants than a single dose. US health officials are concerned that the spread of more contagious variants could hamper the country’s fight to control the pandemic.
Although the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines were tested as a two-dose regimen, the UK has switched to delaying second doses to get more first doses to more people faster.
Over the weekend, the FDA approved Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine. The J&J vaccine is also currently being tested as a two-dose vaccine.
