Booster Shots Authorized for Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine.

​Since August the CDC has recommended that people with moderately to severely compromised immune systems receive an additional dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Last Friday the CDC authorized a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine to certain groups of people six months after receiving the first two doses. This applies only to those who have received the Pfizer vaccine. Earlier in the week the FDA and the CDC’s advisory committee on vaccines both recommended a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine, but differed on who should be eligible. CDC director Rochelle Walensky overruled her advisory committee to align with the recommendations of the FDA.

CDC’s new guidelines on who should get a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine six months after receiving the 2nd shot:

1. People aged 65 and older.
2. Residents aged 18 and older in long-term care settings.
3. People aged 50-64 with underlying medical conditions.

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CDC’s new guidelines on who may receive a booster of the Pfizer vaccine:

1. People aged 18-49 with underlying medical conditions.
2. People aged 18-64 at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional settings. This includes most people who work in healthcare, schools, correctional institutions, long-term care settings, homeless shelters, and other front-line workers.

​These recommendations are very broad, which makes it a fairly simple matter for anyone intent on getting a booster to get one. Already in the U.S. people are lining up for boosters. But this is where the ugly issue of vaccine inequity comes into play. As of mid-September, fewer than 4% of Africans have been fully vaccinated.  African leaders at the United Nations last week, along with the World Health Organization, pleaded with the developed countries to delay boosters until poor nations received their first doses. There is no question that the supply of vaccines worldwide is limited, and the poor nations are scrambling for initial doses, while people in rich nations are already receiving booster doses.

Most health experts agree that booster vaccines will not stop the pandemic. Getting unvaccinated people vaccinated will. People who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have a high degree of immunity and are very well protected against serious illness and death. The focus needs to be on the unvaccinated populations across the globe. Booster doses should be targeted for a very select group of people, such as the immunocompromised and the elderly with underlying health conditions.

The United States needs to do a better job at vaccinating the 25% of the population eligible for vaccines who have not yet received one. Rather than spending vast resources on giving boosters shots, the U.S. needs to focus on the unvaccinated and start ramping up for getting children ages 5-11 vaccinated. Emergency Authorization for this age group is only weeks away.

Approval for Moderna’s COVID-19 booster vaccine is only days away from receiving approval, but J&J has not yet submitted an application for its booster. For most people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, it is probably more important to go out and get a flu vaccine, and not a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
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Reference Link: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/booster-shot.html

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Armchair American