Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Photo: Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty
Patients can space out the two doses of the coronavirus vaccine by up to six weeks if it’s "not feasible" to follow the shorter recommended window, according to updated guidance from the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention.
Driving the news: With the prospect of vaccine shortages and a low likelihood that supply will expand before April, the latest changes could provide a path to vaccinate more Americans — a top priority for President Biden.
What they're saying: “What the CDC is saying, sometimes, the situation is stressed where it’s very difficult to be exactly on time,” Biden's chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci told CNN. “So we’re saying, you can probably do it six weeks later, namely, two additional weeks."
- "Quite frankly, immunologically, I don’t think that’s going to make a big difference," Fauci added.
- The CDC's “intention is not to suggest people do anything different, but provide clinicians with flexibility for exceptional circumstances," agency spokesperson Kristen Nordlund told the New York Times.
Details: The CDC recommends getting the second dose three weeks after the first for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and suggests a four-week window between the two doses of Moderna's vaccine.
- The two doses should be administered as close to that recommended schedule as possible, the CDC says.
- Of note: There is “limited data on efficacy” of the vaccines beyond that interval, according to the new guidance, but if the second dose is administered later “there is no need to restart the series.”
- The updated guidance also says "every effort should be made to determine which vaccine product was received as the first dose, in order to ensure completion of the vaccine series with the same product."
- "In exceptional situations in which the first-dose vaccine product cannot be determined or is no longer available," any available mRNA vaccine can be used for the second dose, the guidance adds.
The big picture: The U.S. failed to meet its goal of vaccinating 20 million people by the end of December.
- In his first days in office, Biden promised an aggressive campaign to ramp up vaccine production, aiming to deliver 100 million vaccinations in 100 days.
- The new president's "wartime" coronavirus strategy includes invoking the Defense Production Act to increase vaccine supply.
- Fauci has said the U.S. could achieve herd immunity by fall if Biden's vaccine rollout goes as planned.
Go deeper: The most vulnerable Americans aren't getting enough vaccine information