Biden administration expected to recommend COVID booster shots for all Americans amid case surge
recommend COVID-19 booster shots for all Americans, regardless of age, eight months after they received the second shot, a source familiar with the plans confirmed to USA TODAY.
The news, which will be announced as soon as this week, comes as the delta variant rages across the country. It also comes amid anxieties about the Pfizer vaccine’s waning immunity and the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of booster vaccines for immunocompromised people.
The official spoke to USA TODAY on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.
Booster shots will begin as early as mid-to-late September once the FDA formally approves vaccines. The action is expected for the Pfizer shot in the coming weeks. As long as any of the vaccines are issued under an Emergency Use Authorization, no one but the FDA can recommend boosters.
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Adding booster shots raises thorny moral questions as the world continues to be ravaged by COVID-19 and few countries have access to enough vaccines for their people. Given that global inequity, having Americans get a third dose while so many have had none is problematic.
Dr. William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has proposed that the United States donate doses for every booster dose that’s given.
“I would love to see the Biden administration say we’re going to donate 10 doses for every booster dose we give,” he said. “It’s a visible way of showing we understand there’s an issue here and this is how we’re going to address it.”