The CDC and the FDA have given the green light to the US COVID-19 booster programme

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have given the green light to the US COVID-19 booster programme.

The FDA’s decision to prolong the Pfizer Comirnaty vaccine’s emergency use authorisation (EUA) comes only days after the agency called a meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC).

The programme was authorised for high-risk populations during the conference, but sixteen of the eighteen experts voted against offering booster injections to all Americans.

Only those who are 65 and older, adults over 18 who are at frequent occupational or institutional exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and adults over 18 who are at high risk of severe COVID-19 are eligible for the booster.

In addition, the booster shot should only be offered at least six months after the completion of the vaccine series.

Janet Woodcock, the FDA commissioner, stated: “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 healthcare workers, teachers and daycare staff, grocery workers and those in homeless shelters or prisons, among others.”