Posted on Jul 30, 2022
Summer boosters for people under 50 shelved in favor of updated boosters in the fall
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/07/28/ [login to see] /summer-boosters-for-people-under-50-shelved-in-favor-of-updated-boosters-in-the
The Food and Drug Administration is shelving plans to let more younger adults get second COVID-19 boosters this summer. Instead, officials are planning to speed up availability of the next generation of boosters in the fall, three administration officials confirmed to NPR.
The new strategy came after a debate within the administration about trying to balance protecting people this summer with keeping people safe next winter, when the country will probably get hit by yet another surge, according to the officials familiar with the discussion.
Some officials wanted to launch a new booster campaign this summer to encourage more people to get boosted and more boosted people to get double-boosted to protect them against the highly contagious BA.5 subvariant driving a surge this summer.
But others worried that would interfere with a booster campaign in the fall with what will hopefully be a superior booster specifically targeting BA.5.
One concern was that giving two boosters so close together could increase the risk for a rare heart inflammation called myocarditis. Another concern was that giving them so close together could blunt the protection from the second booster.
The Food and Drug Administration is shelving plans to let more younger adults get second COVID-19 boosters this summer. Instead, officials are planning to speed up availability of the next generation of boosters in the fall, three administration officials confirmed to NPR.
The new strategy came after a debate within the administration about trying to balance protecting people this summer with keeping people safe next winter, when the country will probably get hit by yet another surge, according to the officials familiar with the discussion.
Some officials wanted to launch a new booster campaign this summer to encourage more people to get boosted and more boosted people to get double-boosted to protect them against the highly contagious BA.5 subvariant driving a surge this summer.
But others worried that would interfere with a booster campaign in the fall with what will hopefully be a superior booster specifically targeting BA.5.
One concern was that giving two boosters so close together could increase the risk for a rare heart inflammation called myocarditis. Another concern was that giving them so close together could blunt the protection from the second booster.
Summer boosters for people under 50 shelved in favor of updated boosters in the fall
Posted from npr.org
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Posted 2 y ago
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They need to put out boosters based on the new covid variants, not the original from 2+ years ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."People should not regard them as some sort of magic bullet that gives them super-strong protection," says Dr. John Moore, an immunologist at Weill Cornell Medicine. "These are not going to be magic bullet game-changers because they're not that much better than the already available vaccine boosters."
It's also unclear whether the new boosters can be ready by September. And who knows if BA.5 will even been the main virus by the fall and winter?
"I don't see the benefit waiting for a BA.5-specific booster since BA.5 may be in the rearview mirror and well past us by the time that's available," says Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine.
People younger than 50 should at least have the option to protect themselves now, especially with BA.5 already surging, some say.
"You're talking about you know literally hundreds of millions of people who are at a higher risk than they need to be for months," says Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
"And that will mean potentially millions of preventable infections, certainly thousands of preventable hospitalizations, and probably hundreds of preventable deaths."
..."People should not regard them as some sort of magic bullet that gives them super-strong protection," says Dr. John Moore, an immunologist at Weill Cornell Medicine. "These are not going to be magic bullet game-changers because they're not that much better than the already available vaccine boosters."
It's also unclear whether the new boosters can be ready by September. And who knows if BA.5 will even been the main virus by the fall and winter?
"I don't see the benefit waiting for a BA.5-specific booster since BA.5 may be in the rearview mirror and well past us by the time that's available," says Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine.
People younger than 50 should at least have the option to protect themselves now, especially with BA.5 already surging, some say.
"You're talking about you know literally hundreds of millions of people who are at a higher risk than they need to be for months," says Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
"And that will mean potentially millions of preventable infections, certainly thousands of preventable hospitalizations, and probably hundreds of preventable deaths."
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