Federal agencies could authorize COVID-19 booster shots for all adults by the end of the week, a fast turnaround that comes little more than a week after Pfizer and BioNTech submitted their request to the Food and Drug Administration.
FDA regulators are looking to act by Thursday, according to The New York Times, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has scheduled a three-hour meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to discuss boosters Friday.
Signoff from both agencies would open the floodgates to third doses to all adults. Right now, subgroups who received the Pfizer or Moderna shots at least six months ago can come forward for an extra dose, and persons who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago can seek a booster.
States were starting to get ahead of the feds, however. New York City on Monday told health providers not to turn people away if they seek a booster, and Arkansas, California, Colorado and New Mexico opened the doors to all adults.
The Biden administration is pushing for extra doses amid signs the vaccines’ power wanes after six months, and as cases tick up on the cusp of the holiday season.
The FDA is not expected to consult with an outside advisory group that pumped the brakes on President Biden’s push for widespread boosters about two months ago.
Members of the group have generally supported boosters for older persons and the medically frail but have taken a harder line on boosters for young people. They say the shots appear to be holding up on preventing hospitalization and death, and they need to analyze the risk of myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, that sometimes occurs after vaccination — particularly in teenage or young adult males.
“I’m disappointed that our committee didn’t get a chance to review this recommendation,” Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrics professor at the University of Pennsylvania and member of the advisory panel, told The Washington Times. “I think it would have been valuable to the public to be able to hear our deliberations on this. Will be curious to hear the ACIP discussion on Friday.”
