As Delta spreads, some travelers double COVID-19 vaccine in US

© Reuters / Dado Ruvic
FILE PHOTO: Vials labeled “Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccine” are seen in this illustrative image

By Ahmed Aboulenein

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Alison Toni felt lucky to have received the COVID-19 vaccine from Sinovac in Chile earlier this year. A month later, she was in Minnesota to get the vaccine again.

Toni, an American living in Chile, was visiting her parents in Minneapolis in April when she received her first injection of Pfizer at a CVS pharmacy. She returned for the second dose in June. She did not disclose having been vaccinated before.

“They didn’t ask and I didn’t say anything,” said Toni, 55. She took that step after reading that the Chinese Sinovac vaccine was less effective than the Pfizer Inc vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech and Moderna Inc. shot, both widely available in the United States. She also consulted her doctor beforehand.

Toni is one of the group of people from overseas who have been vaccinated a second time, or are planning to do so, in the United States.

Their reasons range from fears that the vaccines available to them may not be effective enough, fears that they will require additional protection against the rapidly spreading Delta variant, or a need to meet specific requirements for work or travel. Some seek medical advice, others rely on their own research.

© Reuters / RODRIGO GARRIDO
Ricardo Dayne poses for a photo during an interview with Reuters in Santiago

A few countries are also starting to offer a third booster dose to their citizens based on evidence that initial vaccine protection wanes over time, or that an additional injection may help prevent infection with Delta, especially for the elderly or those with weakened immune systems. .

Public health officials have not determined whether booster doses are needed for the general population, and there is not yet much data on the relative risks and benefits of full revaccination.

“It’s probably more than necessary,” said Jason Gallagher, an infectious disease expert at Temple University’s faculty of pharmacy. “A fourth dose is probably a waste; a third dose is probably unnecessary for a lot of people.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries to suspend boosters while many people around the world wait to receive their first doses.

Ricardo Dayne, a 36-year-old Chilean engineer, who first received the Sinovac vaccine at home in April, received his first Pfizer vaccine in New York in June.

“Everyone was also talking about the need for a booster, so I decided to have it.”

“THE PROCESS MUST BE FIXED”

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared a third dose of the vaccine last week https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-fda-authorizes-covid-19-vaccine- boosters-immunocompromised-2021-08-13 for immunocompromised people. Government health officials have estimated this will apply to less than 3% of the adult U.S. population, but said eventually, boosters may be needed more generally.

Meanwhile, a surplus of vaccines in the United States, along with a decentralized health system, has made it easier for people to go to pharmacies and vaccination centers for extra doses. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 1.2 million Americans have already received at least one additional dose after their initial inoculation.

Asked about travelers doubling up on their vaccines, Moderna told Reuters its vaccine was not authorized for this purpose and J&J directed Reuters to the FDA and CDC. Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for CVS Health Corp said the company policy is to refuse patients who have been fully vaccinated at one of its pharmacies, or who disclose they have been fully vaccinated elsewhere. A Walgreens spokesperson said its pharmacies are asking patients if they have been vaccinated during the appointment process and have set up alerts to verify.

22-year-old graduate student Jing Wu said he had no choice. Wu received the Sinovac vaccine in December while in China before moving to the United States to study at Princeton University.

He heard Princeton plans to require proof of an FDA-approved vaccine. The university health department urged him to get the vaccine again and said it would be safe.

He was not reassured.

“I was nervous and stressed about it, but in April I got the vaccine (again),” he said, this time with the photo of Johnson & Johnson.

Princeton announced the policy on April 20, but then decided to accept any vaccine approved by the WHO, including Sinovac. The university’s health website still states that “there is no harm in taking extra vaccines.”

The university did not respond to requests for comment.

“If I had known at the time, the Chinese vaccine would be enough, I wouldn’t have done it,” Wu said.

The United States is developing a plan https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-us-developing-plan-require-foreign-visitors-be-vaccinated-official-2021-08-04 to demand almost all foreign visitors are fully vaccinated, which could create similar problems for many people inoculated with vaccines not approved by the FDA.

Britain and the European Union’s approved vaccine lists do not include vaccines made in Russia or China, which have been used in many countries.

Governments should standardize their definition of fully immunized to include injections that may not be approved in their country, but are still effective, said Dr Amesh Adalja, senior researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

“This whole process needs to be fixed, otherwise, as we get more vaccines and more people travel, it will only happen more,” Adalja said.

(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Additional reporting by Aislinn Laing in Santiago, Carl O’Donnell and Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Aurora Ellis)