Advisers support boosters for all adults
The U.S. government on Friday moved to open up COVID-19 booster shots to all adults, expanding efforts to get ahead of rising coronavirus cases that experts fear could snowball into a winter surge as millions of Americans travel for the holidays.
The Food and Drug Administration’s decision stands to simplify what has been a confusing list of who is eligible for a booster: Now, anyone 18 or older can choose either a Pfizer or Moderna booster six months after their last dose, regardless of which vaccine they had first. The move came after about a dozen states had started offering boosters to all adults on their own.
“We heard loud and clear that people needed something simpler — and this, I think, is simple,” FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks told The Associated Press.
But there is one more step before that policy is final: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must agree. Its scientific advisers supported the move Friday afternoon after discussing the safety and usefulness of Pfizer and Moderna boosters in even healthy young adults.
The CDC’s advisers said anyone 18 and older can choose a booster of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine but went an extra step, and stressed that people 50 and older should get one. A final CDC decision was expected later Friday.
“It’s a stronger recommendation,” said CDC adviser Dr. Matthew Daley of Kaiser Permanente Colorado.
“I want to make sure we provide as much protection as we can.”
The No. 1 priority still is getting more unvaccinated Americans their first doses. That is because all three COVID-19 vaccines used in the U.S. continue to offer strong protection against severe illness, including hospitalization and death, without a booster. But protection against infection can wane with time.
If the CDC agrees, tens of millions more Americans who are six months past their last Pfizer or Moderna shot could get an extra dose of protection before the new year. The Moderna booster comes as half the dose of earlier shots. Anyone who got the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine already can get a booster after two months.