US allows extra COVID vaccine doses for some. Now what?

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writers

Americans at high risk from COVID-19 because of severely weakened immune systems are now allowed to get a third vaccination in hopes of better protection. The Food and Drug Administration has ruled that transplant recipients and other similarly immune-compromised patients can get a third dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Government advisers on Friday agreed. But the decision offers an extra dose only to those high-risk groups — not the general public. These patients have been clamoring for months for better protection, some of them traveling across state lines or lying to get another dose.