CDC advisers recommend certain adults get booster dose of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine
(CNN) -- Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed giving booster doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine to people 65 and older long-term care facility residents, and certain people with underlying conditions.
Late on Wednesday, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized giving boosters to people 65 and older and those at higher risk of severe disease and death, as well as people such as health care workers at higher risk of breakthrough infections because of their work.
Members of CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met Thursday to decide who they should be recommended to.
The CDC advisers voted unanimously to recommend a single Pfizer/BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine booster to people 65 years or older and long-term care facility residents at least six months after they were fully vaccinated.
The advisers also voted 13-2 Thursday to endorse giving booster doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine to people ages 50 to 64 with underlying medical conditions.
But that was short of the FDA's emergency use authorization, which OK'd giving boosters to anyone 18 and older at high risk of severe disease from breakthrough infections.
ACIP instead limited its recommendation to people over 50 with such conditions after members expressed doubts about recommending boosters too broadly. So, staff added a third question that would allow a younger group to access boosters.
Members were less enthusiastic about this option. Vaccine advisers next voted 9-6 Thursday to allow younger adults, those ages 18 to 49, to get a Covid-19 vaccine dose if they have underlying health conditions.
A CDC analysis showed it was much more beneficial to give a booster dose to people 65 and older than to people in younger age groups.
After CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signs off on the ACIP recommendations, booster shots may be given immediately.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
