FDA: Not enough data to give third shot to under 65s
US health experts vote to give COVID booster to people 65+ • Israel’s public health chief: FDA makes decisions for the US and we make decisions for us
A panel of expert outside advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Friday night to administer a Pfizer coronavirus vaccine booster shot to people 65, at the same time overwhelmingly rejecting a proposal to administer a third vaccine shot to all people over the age of 16, as is being done in Israel.
The panel also agreed that healthcare workers and others at high risk for contracting the virus, such as teachers, should be authorized to get the booster shot. The recommendation would cover most Americans who got their shots in the earliest stages of the US vaccination campaign.
“The FDA validated the third vaccination campaign, which began in Israel and subsequently in Canada, Austria, Germany, France and other countries,” the Israeli Health Ministry said in response Friday night.
However, at least on the surface, the policy seems to go against Israel’s decision to roll out the booster to everyone over the age of 12, including requiring anyone who has not gotten the booster or been vaccinated or recovered within the last six months to be tested before entering anywhere that requires a Green Pass after October 1.
There are several reasons for this, including that the United States is about three months behind Israel, so the vaccine is not yet waning as much in younger people, explained Prof. Eran Segal, a computational biologist from the Weizmann Institute of Science.
“Another difference is that when Israel decided to expand the vaccine to young people, the infection rate was around 1.3, higher than in the United States today,” he tweeted on Saturday night. “There is no doubt that the decision in Israel prevented the closure and saved many lives.”
Segal added that the FDA’s vaccination of health workers will mean that many younger people will get a third shot, which will provide them with additional safety data.
“I estimate that the FDA will gradually approve the extension of the vaccine to other age groups, as has happened in Israel, as the effectiveness of the second vaccine continues to