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Experts at the World Health Organization on Friday approved delaying the times between doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine. The organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization published guidance stating that the interval between doses “may be extended up to 42 days (6 weeks), on the basis of currently available clinical trial data,” The Associated Press reported. (Williams, 1/8)

As for whether or not the U.S. should follow the lead of countries like the U.K. and Denmark, Norman Baylor, former director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), called the plan “very risky” on CNBC. “I understand some of the rationale to do this, but again, it’s not really data driven,” Baylor said. “It’s a very risky venture because if it fails, you’re in worse shape.” (Kelley, 1/7)

One issue in considering the reduced dosage is that an immune response is not the same thing as proven protection against a disease, warns Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a government adviser on vaccine policy. While the presence of antibodies often means that a patient has developed some immune protection, it’s not a given. For example, people can have antibodies against HIV without being protected from the disease. To say that immune response means protection, Offit says, “is to ignore history.” (Kramer, 1/8)

Both the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech SE and the one from Moderna Inc. require two doses, administered three or four weeks apart. In the U.S., President-elect Joe Biden plans to release all available doses right away, rather than holding back supplies for a second shot. The proposed departure from the Trump administration’s policy comes as U.K. authorities have decided to delay the second shot. ere is what we know and don’t know about deviating from the recommended schedule. (Hopkins and Sugden, 1/8)

As states try to broaden the reach of their coronavirus vaccination campaigns and navigate uncertain supply chains, many of the first people to receive their shots are just now completing the final act of immunity, the second dose, which boosts the efficacy of both available U.S. vaccines to about 95%.Many health care workers and others at high risk who had the Pfizer shots in mid December lined up for their "booster" shot this week, due to be given 21 days after the initial dose. (Stone, 1/9)

The roll-out of coronavirus vaccines in many countries will not provide herd immunity from the global pandemic this year, several health experts said on Monday, citing limited access for poor countries, community trust problems and potential virus mutations. “We won’t get back to normal quickly,” Dale Fisher, chairman of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Outbreak Alert and Response Network, told the Reuters Next conference. (Wardell, 1/11)