Kevin Brady, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, said on Wednesday that he had tested positive for the COVID-19 shortly before he was due to receive the second dose of the vaccine developed by the Pfizer-BioNTech duo.
The vaccine’s regimen is two doses per patient 21 days apart.
“Tonite the Office of House Physician informed me that I’ve tested positive for COVID-19 and am quarantined.
“As recommended, I received a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on December 18 and also recently tested negative for COVID on New Years Day,” the congressman said on Twitter.
There are currently two coronavirus vaccines with the emergency use authorisation in the United States — Pfizer’s and the one developed by US pharmaceutical company Moderna, whose dosing regimen is also two full shots one month apart.
On Sunday, Moncef Slaoui, the lead scientist in the United States’ COVID-19 response task force, said that the government is pondered halving the doses for some people in a bid to speed up the vaccination process.
On Tuesday, the US Food and Drug Administration recommended reducing the dosing.