From ‘Booster-For-All’ To ‘Pfizer-For-Some’: Lessons From The Third Shot Debate

Biden Administration met its self-declared goal of launching a booster campaign ‘the week of September 20’ – but with a more complex messaging challenge than anyone could have wanted after US FDA authorization and CDC recommendation for a ‘booster’ dose of Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID vaccine left considerable confusion about who should get a third shot.

The White House, FDA, and CDC each took different approaches to the booster issue • Source: Nielsen Hobbs

The formal launch of a COVID-19 “booster” dose campaign in the US is clearly not taking the shape anyone expected when President Biden announced plans for a universal third-dose recommendation in mid-August.

Back then, it sounded simple: everyone in the US who had been fully vaccinated against COVID at the start of...

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