FDA Advises Sticking with the Original Plan—Do Not Delay the Second COVID-19 Shot

Once the celebration over the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines died down, it didn’t take long for questions to arise over whether the regimen laid out was really the best one. An ongoing resurgence of cases led some experts to question whether it might not be wise to spread out the two-shot sequence, conjecturing that delaying the second shot might allow for more people to receive their first dose earlier. That prospect is being debated in some circles as we speak. However, according to an article just published by The Washington Post, the Food and Drug Administration said the idea of doing so is “not rooted solidly in the available evidence” and advised against splitting up the doses any longer than the originally recommended 3 weeks. That belief has been echoed by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who said there are no data to support delaying the booster shot until 3 or 4 months after the first dose.