FDA Advisory Panel to Hold Meeting Today on COVID-19 Booster Shots

FRIDAY, Sept. 17, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisors are meeting today to consider whether it is safe and effective for Americans to receive a third "booster" dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
The FDA posted the materials it intends to use in the review on Wednesday. The advisory panel will review a variety of evidence, including new data from Israel, the Associated Press reported. Israel began offering boosters to its citizens this summer. In summarizing other evidence that will be included in today's meeting, the FDA wrote that the original two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and other U.S.-authorized COVID-19 vaccines "still afford protection against severe COVID-19 disease and death in the United States."
Pfizer, meanwhile, has indicated that its vaccine is protecting against severe disease in the United States, but immunity against milder infections wanes around six to eight months after the second dose.
The issue of whether or not booster shots are needed has heated up over recent weeks, after President Joe Biden had previously announced a booster campaign that was slated to begin Sept. 20 -- Monday. But soon after that announcement, two top FDA vaccine regulators joined with other international scientists to release a report contending that boosters are not needed for healthy individuals, because the vaccines continue to offer strong protection from severe disease.
Although the FDA is not bound to follow the advice of its advisory committees, it typically does so.
Related Posts
Could a Quick Breathalyzer Test for COVID-19 Be on the Way?
MONDAY, Nov. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental Breathalyzer-type test...
U.S. Airplane, Train and Transit Mask Mandates Extended to April 18
THURSDAY, March 10, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Mask mandates for airplanes, trains...
Postpartum Anxiety: What It Is, Symptoms and Treatments
MONDAY, March 13, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- You may have heard of postpartum...
Americans’ Odds for Parkinson’s May Be Higher Than Thought
THURSDAY, Dec. 15, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Parkinson's disease is a much bigger...