The FDA on Sept. 17 voted against booster doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for the general population — a decision that came after the U.S. said Aug. 18 it was prepared to offer booster shots for all fully vaccinated Americans beginning the week of Sept. 20.
The panel did recommend the FDA authorize a booster shot for people 65 years and older or people at high risk of severe COVID-19. Below, experts explain why they think this decision was the right move.
- Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health, told CBS' Face the Nation why he believes the U.S. booster plan will continue to evolve in coming weeks.
"This is the way it ought to be. Science sort of playing out in a very transparent way, looking at the data coming from multiple places, our country, other countries and trying to make the best decision for right now," he said. - Anthony Fauci, MD, the White House chief medical adviser, agreed with Dr. Collins. He told NBC News' Meet the Press the U.S. is limiting its initial booster launch while it waits for more data on how vaccine protection wanes in the general population.
"I believe, as a scientist who's been following it, that ultimately the real proper regimen will turn out to be the original two shots plus a boost," he said. "But you want to do that according to what the data tells you." - Gunisha Kaur, MD, a physician and human rights researcher, and Leslie Bull, medical student at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, wrote an article for NBC News in which they argue that protecting already vaccinated Americans from contracting mild COVID-19 shouldn't take precedence over inoculating the millions people who haven't received initial vaccinations in other countries.
"A more targeted approach to distributing boosters is better than distributing boosters to all Americans given that the existing vaccination regimen is still extremely effective in preventing severe disease, while the evidence in favor of booster shots is either lacking or incomplete," they wrote. "The data is evolving on how much immunity wanes and what the utility and benefits of an additional shot will ultimately mean. Meanwhile, when fully vaccinated Americans get Covid, those without additional risk factors overwhelmingly experience only mild versions of the disease." - Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, a physician and the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa, wrote an article for The New York Times criticizing wealthy nations' efforts to roll out boosters before they address low vaccination rates in Africa.
"Giving healthy people boosters now is similar to sending a generous educational grant to a billionaire while others are scraping together their college tuition," she wrote.