AHA endorses third dose of COVID-19 vaccine for patients with heart transplants, others
The American Heart Association endorsed a recent CDC recommendation that people with compromised immune systems receive a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
According to a press release from the AHA, eligible individuals could make up approximately 3% of the U.S. population, including patients who have had heart or other organ transplants, who are living with HIV or who have genetic conditions that weaken the immune system, among others.
“Research indicates a third COVID-19 vaccine dose will provide people with moderately to severely weakened immune systems more protection against COVID-19 infection and reduce the risk of serious, prolonged illness if an individual contracts COVID-19,” Donald Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, FAHA, president of the AHA, and other AHA leaders said in the release. “More than 99% of Americans who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 have not had a breakthrough case of infection; however, more than 95% of the most recent COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. are among people who are not vaccinated.”
In its release, the AHA stated the importance of continued COVID-19 health protocols such as mask wearing and urged everyone aged 12 years or older to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We also support the CDC’s updated safety recommendations due to the recent surge of the Delta variant: mask wearing for all people regardless of vaccination status when indoors in communities with ‘substantial’ or ‘high’ rate of COVID-19 infection, which represents more than 93% of U.S. counties,” Lloyd-Jones, who is also professor of preventive medicine, medicine and pediatrics and chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and other AHA leaders said in the release.
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