The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorsed on Friday the use of a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines in immunocompromised people.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky signed off Friday afternoon on recommendations approved hours earlier by the agency's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices following the Food and Drug Administration's approval late Thursday. The recommendation applies to mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

"This official CDC recommendation -- which follows FDA's decision to amend the emergency use authorizations of the vaccines -- is an important step in ensuring everyone, including those most vulnerable to COVID-19, can get as much protection as possible from COVID-19 vaccination," Walensky said in a statement.

"At a time when the Delta variant is surging, an additional vaccine dose for some people with weakened immune systems could help prevent serious and possibly life-threatening COVID-19 cases within this population," Walensky said.

An estimated 2.7 percent of adults in the United States are immunocompromised, according to the CDC. That includes organ transplant recipients, certain cancer patients and people with HIV. 

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