People Who Got Johnson & Johnson Coronavirus Shot Feel Left Behind In Push For Boosters, Wash Post
- The Washington Post, Sept. 8, 2021. - Edited
Janice Higgins isn’t the type to ignore advice from health professionals, especially when it comes to protecting herself from the coronavirus. When officials recommended masks, she wore them. When the vaccines arrived, she got the first one available to her. But the Biden administration’s plan for coronavirus booster shots is testing her faith in the process. Higgins is one of 14 million Americans who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which isn’t covered under the booster plan announced Aug. 18. Officials’ decision to focus first on recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots panicked her, she said. She already worried that she had received the weakest of the 3 vaccines and questioned how it would stand up against the ferocious delta variant.
“I feel like I’m being neglected,” said Higgins, 69, of Hadley, Mass. “I’m trying to do the right thing and I’m being stymied by the health establishment.”
Scores of other J&J vaccine recipients voiced similar concerns, saying they felt left behind by the White House’s move toward boosters for everyone but them. Officials noted the single-dose regimen was authorized later and they expect J&J booster shots would be needed, too- a fact that they said would become evident when data on long-term effectiveness is made available. They also emphasized that for most people, one dose of J&J is a strong shield against the worst effects of covid-19. A small, non-peer-reviewed study by the company showed it was effective against the delta variant, too, and other research indicates immunity remains strong 8 months after injection. “For the majority of people, outside of the higher-risk groups, the J&J does currently protect against severe disease, hospitalizations and death quite well, even with the delta variant,” said Purvi Parikh at NYU Langone Health. “So at this moment in time, you should not panic or stress.”
But that’s little comfort to those eager to bolster their protection as soon as possible. Many fret about declining immunity and struggle with the thought of waiting on the sidelines while infections surge and friends and neighbors line up for their 3rd doses. Their unease highlights the confusion surrounding the White House’s booster plan, which must still be approved by health regulators. “We’ve kind of left people who got J&J high and dry, we have no idea what to tell them,” said a federal health official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue. The concerns mounted last Thursday, when the heads of the FDA and the CDC privately warned the White House that the plan may have to be slowed, according to people familiar with the matter. Acting FDA commissioner Janet Woodcock and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said their agencies would need more time to collect and analyze the data, and that 3rd shots may initially have to be limited to Pfizer-BioNTech recipients..
.. In their announcement last month, White House officials said every adult American should get a booster shot 8 months after they completed their initial dosage, starting the week of Sept. 20, if the FDA and the CDC approve the plan. They pointed to a growing body of data showing that immunity declines over time, and said boosters would likely be necessary, especially as delta rips across the country. The White House said the move at first would only apply to recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which were the first shots rolled out in the U.S. and represent those given to the majority of vaccinated Americans.. “For people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, we anticipate vaccine boosters will likely be needed,” Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy said in the Aug. 18 briefing by the White House covid-19 response team. “The J&J vaccine was not administered in the U.S. until March of 2021, and we expect more data on J&J in the coming weeks. With those data in hand, we will keep the public informed with a timely plan for J&J booster shots.”...
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/people-who-got-johnson-and-johnsons-coronavirus-shot-feel-left-behind-in-push-for-boosters/ar-AAOdSPq
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