Don’t Call It A Booster: Immunocompromised May Be First To Get Extra COVID Shot In US

Reports indicate a 13 August CDC advisory committee meeting may be used to address an amended FDA emergency use authorization to allow immunosuppressed Americans to get additional COVID-19 vaccine doses. Such a move would not run afoul of the World Health Organization’s plea for a moratorium on boosters in the general population until much of the world initially can be vaccinated. 

booster vaccine dose
The US FDA is inching closer to making determinations on the need for COVID-19 booster shots. • Source: Alamy

The US Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are likely to soon permit the administration of an additional COVID-19 vaccine dose to immunocompromised individuals, according to recent reports, but for a variety of reasons they may steer clear of referring to the additional shots as a booster.

US media reports on 6 August indicated that the FDA could authorize the extra shots within days or weeks and that a 13 August CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting would address the move

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