Individuals ages 65 and up ought to get one other dose of a COVID-19 vaccine this spring, given the age group’s greater danger of extreme illness and dying from the pandemic virus, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention introduced Wednesday.
Earlier in the present day, an advisory committee for the CDC voted overwhelmingly in favor of recommending the spring booster dose. And late this afternoon, CDC Director Mandy Cohen signed off on the advice, permitting boosting to start.
“As we speak’s advice permits older adults to obtain a further dose of this season’s COVID-19 vaccine to offer added safety,” Cohen stated in a press release. “Most COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations final 12 months have been amongst folks 65 years and older. A further vaccine dose can present added safety which will have decreased over time for these at highest danger.”
The spring booster will likely be a further shot of the 2023–2024 COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Novavax. The booster dose ought to be taken after no less than 4 months have handed since a earlier COVID-19 vaccination. Nonetheless, as FDA consultant David Kaslow famous in in the present day’s advisory committee assembly, the FDA will seemingly approve a 2024–2025 model of COVID-19 vaccines for this coming fall. On condition that, it is best for folks to get their spring booster dose by the top of June, to allow them to be prepared for an additional booster earlier than the winter when COVID-19 has typically peaked.
A report revealed earlier this month by the CDC discovered that the 2023–2024 COVID-19 vaccine was about 54 % efficient at stopping symptomatic COVID-19 compared in opposition to individuals who had not obtained the newest vaccine. Nonetheless, the CDC estimates that solely about 22 % of adults within the US have gotten a COVID-19 booster this season, and simply over 40 % of individuals ages 65 and up have gotten the shot.
Individuals over age 65 made up 67 % of COVID-19 hospitalizations between October 2023 and January 2024, in response to CDC knowledge introduced at in the present day’s advisory committee assembly. In early January, COVID-19 hospitalizations hit a seasonal excessive of about 35,000 weekly new admissions per week and almost 2,500 weekly deaths.
The advisors debated methods to phrase their advice for a spring booster and whether or not getting a booster ought to require consulting with a well being care supplier. However, in the end, the committee selected a extra permissive advice, permitting anybody within the age group who desires a booster to have the ability to freely get one, together with at handy places, corresponding to native pharmacies.
“Information continues to indicate the significance of vaccination to guard these most in danger for extreme outcomes of COVID-19,” the CDC stated in its announcement of the advice. “A further dose of the up to date COVID-19 vaccine could restore safety that has waned since a fall vaccine dose, offering elevated safety to adults ages 65 years and older.”
The CDC famous that its earlier suggestions permit people who find themselves immunocompromised to get extra doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.
