The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccinations for people with compromised or weakened immune systems.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that organ transplant recipients, certain cancer patients and people diagnosed with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) are among those who can get seriously ill from COVID-19.

New York state has the second-highest number of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the country and the group has been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that New Yorkers with HIV/AIDS were hospitalized with COVID-19 at a rate more than two-and-a-half times higher than the general population.

The report showed they also died in the hospital from COVID-19 at a similarly higher rate.

The CDC reports that 126,713 people in New York were living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2019.