US Regulator Wants to Approve Pfizer Boosters on Thursday
The US drug regulator FDA aims to allow booster doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for all adults as early as Thursday, The New York Times reported Tuesday. This increases the number of Americans eligible for the third shot by tens of millions.
On Friday, a CDC health service committee will also discuss the efficacy and safety of Pfizer/BioNTech’s booster dose. If the CDC also approves, following the FDA’s approval, anyone over the age of 18 – and who received a second dose of the vaccine at least six months earlier – will be officially eligible for a booster this weekend.
As of last September, only people age 65 and older were eligible for a booster shot from Pfizer/BioNTech, as well as adults with underlying medical conditions or those at increased risk of infection due to their work.
Moderna is expected to file its own petition with the FDA soon to get its all-adult booster approved. But for now, every adult in the US can get the Pfizer/BioNTech booster starting this weekend.