F.D.A. Aiming to Speed Vaccine Booster Shot for Immunocompromised Patients

The FDA is speeding efforts to authorize extra doses of the coronavirus vaccines for Americans with weakened immune systems. Additional doses may help some people with weak immune systems, but others may show little improvement, and still others may not need extra doses at all. In a study of organ transplant recipients, only a third of the patients who received a third dose showed a benefit. “I wish we had a more rational process to identify individuals within these categories who actually need it versus not,” said Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson.