CDC Expands COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots To All Americans

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, recently endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization and Practices’ (ACIP’s) recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to include all adults.  

The recommendation came just days after FDA expanded the emergency use authorization (EUA) for a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to include individuals 18 years of age and older.

Caregivers can administer the booster dose at least six months following completion of the primary series. The booster shot is the same dosage strength as the doses in the primary series.

A panel of FDA scientific advisers approved the expansion of eligibility late last week. And Walensky endorsed the recommendation just hours later. 

In the US, COVID-19 infection rates have increased 33 percent on average over the past two weeks, to 94,000 a day. Health officials believe that booster shots help to defend against the virus and gain an “upper hand” in the pandemic. 

“Booster shots have demonstrated the ability to safely increase people’s protection against infection and severe outcomes and are an important public health tool to strengthen our defenses against the virus as we enter the winter holidays,” Walensky said. 

“Based on the compelling evidence, all adults over 18 should now have equitable access to a COVID-19 booster dose,” she continued. 

In August, Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine booster generated a rapid and robust increase in spike-binding antibodies. And Moderna’s booster dose increased neutralizing antibody titers across all age groups, notably those 65 years and older. 

Therefore, the CDC recommended the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccine booster shots for all eligible individuals who receive any FDA-authorized vaccine at the end of October. 

The organization recommended the booster for adults aged 18 years and older who received the company’s single-shot vaccine at least two months earlier or for eligible adults at least six months following the second dose of an authorized mRNA vaccine.

So far, only about 18 percent of Americans 18 years and older have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Notably, fully vaccinated white individuals are more likely to have received a booster shot than other racial and ethnic groups, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report. 

Celine Grounder, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Bellevue Hospital Center, stated that Americans who have opted for boosters tend to be of higher socioeconomic status, are more educated, and have better access to healthcare in general. 

But experts stress that a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot should prevent people from becoming infected and limit their infectiousness overall.