No on booster shots: panel
But says seniors and vulnerable should get them
In a surprising twist Friday, a government advisory panel overwhelmingly rejected a plan to give COVID booster shots for almost everyone but approved the extra Pfizer shots for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease due to comorbidities.
The nonbinding recommendation — from a group of outside experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration — is not the last word. The FDA will consider the group’s advice and make its own decision, probably within days. And the Centers for Disease Control is set to weigh in next week.
By a vote of 16-2, the panel denied boosters for the general public and cited a lack of safety data on extra doses. They also raised doubts about the value of mass boosters, rather than ones targeted to specific groups.
Then, in an 18-0 vote, it endorsed the extra shot for select portions of the U.S. population — namely, those most at risk from the virus.
While the decision to recommend the booster shots for older Americans and other high-risk groups helps salvage part of the White House’s campaign, it’s still a huge step back from the plan proposed by the administration to offer booster shots of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to nearly all Americans eight months after they get their second dose.
The offering of boosters is also subject to review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A CDC advisory panel is expected to take up the question on Wednesday. The CDC has said it is considering boosters for older people, nursing home residents and front-line health care workers, rather than all adults.
Dr. Amanda Cohn of the CDC said: “At this moment it is clear that the unvaccinated are driving transmission in the United States.”
During several hours of vigorous debate Friday, members of the panel questioned the value of offering boosters to almost everybody 16 and over.
“I don’t think a booster dose is going to significantly contribute to controlling the pandemic,” said Dr. Cody Meissner of Tufts University. “And I think it’s important that the main message we transmit is that we’ve got to get everyone two doses.”
Both Pfizer and the Israeli representatives faced pushback from panelists. Several were skeptical about the relevance of Israel’s experience to the U.S. Another concern was whether third doses would exacerbate serious side effects, including rare instances of heart inflammation seen in younger men.
Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said he was supportive of a third dose for adults over 60 or 65, but “I really have trouble” supporting it for anyone down to age 16.
While an extra shot would probably at least temporarily reduce cases with mild or no symptoms, “the question becomes what will be the impact of that on the arc of the pandemic, which may not be all that much,” Offit said.
In a statement, Kathrin U. Jansen, Pfizer head of vaccine research and development, said the company continues to believe that boosters will be a “critical tool in the ongoing effort to control the spread of this virus.”
The U.S. has already approved Pfizer and Moderna boosters for certain people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients and transplant recipients.