FDA Authorizes Booster Shots For All U.S. Adults

Friday's Food and Drug Administration has extended urgent approval of the Covid19 vaccine booster from Pfizer and Moderna to allow vaccination of people aged at least 6 months and 18 years. The new directive requires the consent of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to come into effect. The CDC Vaccine Advisory Board will meet  on this issue on Friday. However, if the CDC approves, the FDA indicates that the Biden administration's pledge to provide Covid booster doses to all American adults this fall will be completed. 

The Biden administration announced in August its intention to provide boosters to all vaccinated Americans, but two groups of outside experts advised the FDA and the CDC against the rushed decision. At the September meeting of the FDA's Advisory Board on Vaccines and Related Bioforms, a committee of experts stated that Pfizer boosters should be provided to a small number of people. The FDA prioritizes people aged 65 or up with health problems, and anyone at serious risk of the illness.  

Initially, this latter group was described as health workers, teachers, prison guards, prisoners, people working and living in homeless shelters, and more. However, more than 12 states, including Massachusetts, California, and Colorado, have recently stated that anyone over the age of 18 meets the booster threshold due to their high local transmission speeds. CDC data suggests that individuals eligible for boosters received it, and 37.3% of those who were fully vaccinated over the age of 65  received boosters. Vaccine intake in this age group is relatively high. 86.2% of Americans over the age of 65 are fully vaccinated.