FDA Expected To Authorize Moderna, Pfizer COVID-19-Vaccine Third Doses For Some People Today: NYT

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize on Thursday a third dose of the Pfizer Inc. PFE-BioNTech SE BNTX and Moderna Inc. MRNA COVID-19 vaccines for certain people with weakened immune systems, the New York Times reported.

What Happened: The decision to expand the emergency use of the two COVID-19 vaccines will cover organ transplant recipients and people whose immune systems are similarly compromised, the report noted, citing people familiar with the plans.

The FDA decision will be then considered by an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), scheduled to meet Friday.

See Also: FDA Looks To Grant Full Approval To Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine By Early September: NYT

Why It Matters: About 3% of people in the U.S. are immunocompromised due to a wide range of issues. The group includes patients undergoing cancer treatment and people with HIV.

The approval of an additional vaccine dose for immunocompromised patients is seen as helping boost their immunity as they often show little immune response to the standard two-dose regimen.

Pfizer said in July that new data showed a third dose of its vaccine can “strongly” boost protection against the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, beyond the protection afforded by the standard two doses.

Price Action: Pfizer shares closed 3.9% lower in Wednesday’s trading at $46.31, while BioNTech shares closed almost 13.8% lower at $359.19.

Moderna shares closed 15.6% lower in Wednesday’s trading at $385.33.

See also: How to Buy Moderna MRNA Stock