Washington sticking to full two-dose vaccine plan

The Washington Department of Health said it’s sticking to its original plan of recommending two full doses of coronavirus vaccines, as other officials consider reducing doses or only giving one shot to stretch limited supplies.

We have been following the discussions and news reports about reducing the number of doses, extending the length of time between doses, changing the amount (half-dose), or mixing and matching vaccines to immunize more people against COVID-19. These are all reasonable questions to consider and evaluate in clinical trials. However, at this time, suggesting changes to the FDA-authorized dosing or schedules of these vaccines is premature and not rooted solidly in the available evidence. Without appropriate data supporting such changes in vaccine administration, we run a significant risk of placing public health at risk, undermining the historic vaccination efforts to protect the population from COVID-19.

American immunologist Moncef Slaoui said in an interview with CBS on January 3 that the authorities discuss the possibility of using only half a dose of the Moderna drug in vaccination to speed up the process and increase coverage of the population.