After weeks of wondering who would need to get an extra dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and when – and having confusing advice from various government officials – the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made a decision on the Pfizer vaccine.
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On Wednesday, FDA regulators decided to amend Pfizer-BioNTech's emergency use authorization to allow a single additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to certain populations. The groups are: people 65 years of age and older, people ages 18 to 64 who are at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and people ages 18 to 64 who work in fields that could put others at serious risk.
While the first two groups are pretty clear, the third group is less so, which is perhaps why agency officials decided to give examples. Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said the group includes healthcare, teachers, daycare staff, grocery store employees, people in prisons and people in homeless shelters, among others.
The agency's decision applies only to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. It should be noted that the booster is simply a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. It is no different from previous doses.
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Regarding the timing, the FDA said that booster doses can be given to people in these groups at least six months after receiving the 2 doses and at any point after that time.
Information source: gizmodo.com
