FDA Approves Pfizer’s Booster Shot for People 65 and Older

In Summary

Pfizer's COVID-19 booster shot for people 65 and older and who are at high risk of disease received FDA approval. 

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said people age 65 and older who received Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine could receive a booster shot at least six months after their second shot.   

Additionally, people at higher risk of disease and who have jobs putting them at risk of COVID-19 infection are also eligible for booster shots.   

In a statement, Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said, “After considering the totality of the available scientific evidence and the deliberations of our advisory committee of independent, external experts, the FDA amended the EUA for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to allow for a booster dose in certain populations such as health care workers, teachers and daycare staff, grocery workers and those in homeless shelters or prisons, among others.”   

According to the New York Times, around 22 million Americans are at least six months past their second dose of Pfizer’s vaccine, with half of them being 65 and older.   

“We will continue to analyze data submitted to the FDA pertaining to the use of booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines and we will make further decisions as appropriate based on the data,” the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Dr. Peter Marks, said in a statement, according to CNN.   

The United States joins Britain, France, Germany and Israel to offer booster doses, the New York Times reported.  

President Joe Biden said at a virtual COVID-19 vaccine summit on Wednesday that the U.S. will provide 500 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine to countries that need them, per the Times.   

Despite the FDA’s authorization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t approved the booster shot; its approval is needed before people can be administered doses.   

RELATED: Johnson & Johnson: Booster Shot Causes Nine-Fold Increase in Antibodies

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