Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday recommended updated COVID-19 boosters for all Americans ages 6 months and older.
CDC Director Mandy Cohen will decide whether to accept the recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — a decision that will clear the way for the booster campaign to start in pharmacies and doctors’ offices across America.
The panel voted, 13-1, in favor of a blanket recommendation, even though some advisers were leery of making a universal advisement that all Americans should get the vaccine. They said it obscures the fact that older persons and people with underlying health conditions are the ones who will truly need the booster.
Others were strongly in favor of a universal recommendation, saying they needed to speak with a clear voice and make sure people didn’t fall through the cracks in the nationwide fight to keep COVID-19 in check.
More than 90% of circulating viruses are from the XBB lineage targeted by the updated boosters, presenters told the panel on Tuesday.
A new variant, BA.2.86, is fueling cases but officials do not believe it seriously weakens the power of the shots.
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The Biden administration plans to promote the boosters this fall. There are widespread reports of an uptick in cases, reigniting the debate around masks in some places, though government-directed mandates haven’t returned and hospitalizations remain low.
The vaccines were developed in record time during the first year of the pandemic.
The main options from Pfizer and Moderna deploy messenger RNA, which teaches the body how to recognize the virus and mount an immune response. The shots haven’t been able to block infection and transmission outright, and are mainly viewed as tools to limit serious disease.
The coronavirus continues to mutate, so drugmakers are trying to fine-tune the shots to match circulating strains as best as possible, akin to updated flu shots.
The updated shots will be manufactured in a similar manner as previous versions and the approval is based on immune response data in lab conditions, according to the Food and Drug Administration, which signed off on the boosters Monday.
Only 17% of the U.S. population received the updated, or “bivalent,” booster that debuted last fall, though more than four in 10 seniors — the most at-risk group — opted for it.
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A CBS News/YouGov poll released Tuesday said 43% of Americans plan to get a COVID-19 booster this time, with a clear partisan split.
Nearly three-quarters of Democrats plan to get the shot compared with 37% of independents and 21% of Republicans.
Overall, the poll finds Americans are less concerned about COVID-19 than at any point in the pandemic.
The poll says 48% of people are concerned about the latest version of the virus compared with nearly six in 10 who feared the omicron wave in 2021.
Only 45% of people worry about getting the virus or seeing a family member contract it. It’s the first time that number dipped below the halfway line in CBS polling, compared with 77% who feared the virus in April 2020 and 55% in March 2022.
The poll was conducted among more than 2,300 adults shortly before the FDA approved the booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna.
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.