COVID-19 booster shot for Pfizer, Moderna vaccines will be available Sept. 20
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled plans to begin offering COVID-19 booster shots this fall for Americans who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, eight months after they become fully vaccinated, as cases of the delta variant continue to spread across the country.
Americans who are eligible can receive a third shot beginning Sept. 20, pending authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is expected in the coming weeks, according to a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services and other administration medical experts.
The initial doses will go to those who were fully vaccinated earliest in the vaccine rollout, including health care providers, nursing home residents and other seniors. The administration plans to also begin delivering booster shots directly to residents of long-term facilities, according to the statement.
The announcement comes as the highly contagious delta variant now accounts for more than 98.8% of U.S. cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Officials emphasized that mRNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna continue to be effective in reducing risk of hospitalization and death, but conceded that recent data made clear that protections begin to wane after the initial doses and amid the dominant delta variant.
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"Based on our latest assessment, the current protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death could diminish in the months ahead, especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout," the statement said. "For that reason, we conclude that a booster shot will be needed to maximize vaccine-induced protection and prolong its durability."
Biden administration changes its advice on boosters
Officials said they anticipate booster shots will likely be needed for people who received the Johnson & Johnson shot, but acknowledged that they're still collecting data as the federal rollout of the vaccine did not begin in the U.S. until March.
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President Joe Biden is expected to speak later Wednesday on the new recommendation. His remarks come less than a week after the CDC issued a recommendation for booster shots for some immunocompromised people, or about 3% of the U.S. population.
Administration officials had previously said there was no need for a booster shot to protect against the delta variant.
“No American needs a booster now,” Biden said last month. “But if the science tells us there’s a need for boosters, then that’s something we’ll do. And we have purchased the supply – all the supply we need to be ready if that was called for.”
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Some global health advocates have criticized the recommendation for a third shot, arguing that the U.S. should focus more on donating its supply of coronavirus vaccines to low-income countries that are still struggling to inoculate their populations.
"As wealthy countries debate when to give third shots, many African countries still don't have enough vaccines to give all of their immunocompromised citizens and first responders one dose,” said Edwin Ikhuoria, Africa Executive Director, The ONE Campaign. "Wealthy nations must do more to increase global access to vaccines as soon as possible. Lives and livelihoods depend on it.”
Officials acknowledged they will need to balance offering booster shots against its campaigns to get more people vaccinated at home and abroad.
"We will continue to ramp up efforts to increase vaccinations here at home and to ensure people have accurate information about vaccines from trusted sources," the statement read. "We will also continue to expand our efforts to increase the supply of vaccines for other countries, building further on the more than 600 million doses we have already committed to donate globally.”
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Data from Israel, Mayo Clinic prompted booster offering
The policy change comes because of data released from Israel and the Mayo Clinic, among others, said Dr. Eric Topol, vice president for research at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, and a national expert on the use of data in medical research.
Data published by Israel’s Ministry of Health shows that protection from the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine dropped off precipitously after six months, down to 40-50% effectiveness against infection, he said. The vaccine was still highly protective against serious illness and death, but not against milder COVID-19.
Reports from Qatar and the Mayo Clinic are seeing the same effect, he said.
“It gets down to the 40 to 50% effectiveness range, whereas it used to be 95%,” he said.
Contributing: Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID vaccine booster shots coming Sept. 20, Biden administration says
