FDA and NIH to expand recommendation for Covid-19 Booster Shot

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On Sunday, the head of NIH (National Institutes of Health) Dr. Francis Collins predicted that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) will broaden its recommendation on who should receive a COVID-19 booster shot in the coming weeks. The agency recommended the additional doses for the elderly and high-risk Americans. Collins said that an FDA advisory committee unanimously voted in favor of offering the extra vaccine doses to people 65 and older. It is for those who are at high risk for exposure, but the panel didn’t consider the boosters were needed for the general public. Collins said, “Some of the data we’re seeing coming in, especially from Israel, tells me that it’s likely they will get to that point, but this was a start”. The FDA is looking to approve the boosters for a wider range of the population.

The NIH chief said it may be somewhat questionable whether children should get an extra dose. But he believes there will be a decision in the coming weeks to expand boosters beyond the list that they approved on Friday. Top federal health officials announced last month that vaccinated Americans would need to get booster shots 8 months after receiving their 2^nd dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The Biden administration was prepared to start offering boosters this week subject to their approval from the FDA and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). But the FDA panel of outside experts on Friday rejected a request from Pfizer for full approval of the third dose of its vaccine. The advisers endorse the additional shots for older and high-risk Americans, such as health care and frontline workers, such as teachers.

The CDC will convene its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices this week to make its own recommendation on booster shots. Collins said teachers could be among the population green-lighted for a booster given that some are in classrooms with children under 12, who are not yet eligible to get vaccinated. He said the recommendation from the FDA regarding the high-risk category was a little ambiguous. Collins said, “Maybe in that regard, they kind of fit into the same category as health care providers”. He acknowledged the CDC’s advisory committee will have to wrestle with who is considered to be at a high risk of exposure. He said the NIH is also in the middle of trials to see whether the 3 vaccines approved for emergency use — from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.