A committee of experts spent more than five hours Wednesday reviewing data on the safety and effectiveness of a third shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 …
A committee of experts spent more than five hours Wednesday reviewing data on the safety and effectiveness of a third shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The committee, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is likely to vote Thursday on who should be eligible for a third shot. People who are severely immunocompromised and might not have gotten protection from the first two doses, have been able to get a third dose for the past six weeks or so. Among the more than 20,000 people who were tracked after receiving a third dose, no major safety concerns popped up, CDC officials said Wednesday. If anything, their side effects were milder than those reported after first and second doses, though their experiences might not be representative. Because the immune system’s effectiveness declines with age, people older than 65 are likely to get the biggest benefit from a booster dose. Last week, a different advisory panel recommended that the Food and Drug Administration allow third doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine six months after a second shot for people over 65 and those at high risk for severe COVID-19. The CDC panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, can’t decide the details of who should be eligible for a booster until the FDA authorizes a broader use of third shots. That FDA decision is expected before the CDC committee reconvenes Thursday at noon EDT. If the FDA makes a decision, the ACIP committee will vote on eligibility near the end of its scheduled three-hour meeting.
