A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) panel on Thursday unanimously recommended COVID-19 vaccine boosters for several huge populations, including those 65 and \u2026<\/b>
\nA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) panel on Thursday unanimously recommended COVID-19 vaccine boosters for several huge populations, including those 65 and older, though members voted down another recommendation. Panel members unanimously recommended a single Pfizer booster for people aged 65 and older and long-term care facility residents of any age above 18. They also overwhelmingly voted for a booster for people between the ages of 50 and 64 who have underlying medical conditions like cancer. The panel was torn, though, on whether to recommend boosters for 18- to 49-year-olds \u201cbased on individual benefit and risk\u201d who have an underlying medical condition. Some members questioned recommending boosters for people as young as 18, based on the side effects for boosters, including heart inflammation, not being known at this time, according to CDC officials. The panel had also heard during presentations that the vaccines are holding up well against both hospitalization and death in younger age groups, making the risk-benefit calculus murkier. While 481 among the 65 and older group need a booster to prevent a single hospitalization, over 8,700 people between 18 and 29 would need to get a booster to prevent a single hospitalization, one CDC presenter said. Still, the panel ultimately passed the recommendation 9\u20136. A fourth motion, however, was voted down 9\u20136. The vote came one day after the Food and Drug Administration expanded emergency use authorization for the Pfizer jab, which was developed with the German firm BioNTech. Drug regulators said people aged 65 or older could get a booster. They also authorized people between 18 and 64 who are at high risk of severe COVID-19 or whose \u201cwhose frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk.\u201d CoV-2 is another name for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19. Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the CDC on vaccines, were told by CDC officials that boosters \u201cmay reduce risk of\u201d CCP virus infection and \u201cmay reduce work absence.\u201d \u201cPrevention of infection may protect healthcare capacity and other essential services for the COVID-19 response and maintain overall function for society,\u201d Dr. Kathleen Dooling, a CDC official, said at one point. Officials acknowledged that there is scant data on boosters, primarily coming from Pfizer itself and Israel, which is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world but has struggled with high numbers of cases and hospitalizations in recent months. They said, for instance, that the risk of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, and severe allergic reactions is not yet known. While recommendations for older people were broadly supported, panel members were torn on recommending boosters for younger populations. Young males, in particular, have been shown to be at \u201csubstantial\u201d risk from myocarditis in the primary two-dose series, Dr. Sarah Long, professor of pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine, said. Long said the presentations given showed there was no data showing people in younger age groups with underlying conditions seeing a more rapid waning of efficacy than those who do not have such issues. The panel spent the most time negotiating language on its fourth recommendation. It says that people between 18 and 64 \u201cwho are in an occupational or institutional setting where the burden of COVID-19 infection and risk of transmission are high\u201d should get a booster, based on their individual benefit and risk. \u201cWe\u2019re really not talking about a direct benefit to the people who are being vaccinated,\u201d Dr. Wilbur Chen, professor of medicine at the University School of Medicine, said before the vote. Long said it would be a \u201cslippery slope\u201d to have doctors interpret what the panel meant with its recommendation. Dr. Nirav Shah, representing the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and Dr. Matthew Zahn, with the National Association of County and City Health Officials, neither of whom are members of the panel, said implementing the recommendation would be challenging. Others, though, said they backed the motion. Healthcare workers have been getting so-called breakthrough infections, or infections despite being vaccinated, \u201cat increasing rates,\u201d Dr. Marci Drees, a representative for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and who is not a member of the panel, told members. \u201cIt\u2019s very frustrating and demoralizing to them to get COVID anyway,\u201d she added. Ultimately, they voted down the recommendation. All the recommendations that passed are for at least six months after people get their primary series. The initial regimen is two doses spaced about three weeks apart. The CDC does not have to accept the recommendations but typically does.<\/p>\n