Americans aged 65 and older, workers in occupations with high risk of exposure to COVID-19, and people with medical conditions putting them at risk for serious complications from COVID-19 should get a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine six months or more after the initial two-dose series, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decided, according to numerous news reports.
The CDC backed most — but not all — of the recommendations of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
At the end of the ACIP meeting Thursday, the committee voted on four questions. They agreed that vaccine boosters should be used for those 65 and older, and for those 50 to 64 who have underlying medical conditions that make them prone to severe COVID-19. The committee members also voted in favor of a booster for those 18 to 49 based on individual benefit and risk given underlying medical conditions, according to a news report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota (CIDRAP). But they turned down a recommendation to also include workers in occupations with a high risk of exposure to COVID-19, such as those in the healthcare industry, CIDRAP reported.
However, the New York Times said that CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, later added in the workers in high-risk occupations, including those in healthcare, before approving the recommendations.
Her decision to include those in occupations with a high risk of exposure to COVID-19 aligns with the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this week.
With the actions by the CDC and FDA, the booster shots will now be available for eligible groups.
