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 U.S. officials, citing data showing waning protection against mild
and moderate illness from the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines
more than six months after inoculation, on Wednesday said https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-begin-offering-covid-19-vaccine-booster-shots-september-2021-08-18
boosters will be made widely available starting on Sept. 20.
The additional dose will be offered to people who received their
initial inoculation at least eight months earlier.
"Recent data makes clear that protection against mild and moderate
disease has decreased over time. This is likely due to both waning
immunity and the strength of the widespread Delta variant," U.S.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told reporters.
"We are concerned that this pattern of decline we are seeing will
continue in the months ahead, which could lead to reduced protection
against severe disease, hospitalization, and death."
Data on so-called "breakthrough" infections in vaccinated people
shows that older Americans have so far been the most vulnerable to
severe illness.
As of Aug. 9, almost 74% of the 8,054 vaccinated people that were
hospitalized with COVID-19 were above the age of 65, according to
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost 20% of
those cases ended in deaths.
Based on available data on vaccine protection, it is not clear that
younger, healthier people will be at risk.
"We don't know if that translates into a problem with the vaccine
doing what is most important, which is protect against
hospitalization, death, and serious disease. On that, the jury is
still out," said Dr. Jesse Goodman, an infectious disease expert at
Georgetown University in Washington and a former chief scientist at
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Several countries have decided to provide booster shots to older
adults and people with weak immune systems. European Union officials
said on Wednesday they do not yet see a need to give booster shots
to the general population.
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 Other experts said the U.S.
plan requires thorough vetting by the FDA and a
panel of outside advisers to the CDC. A meeting
of those advisers to discuss boosters set for
Aug. 24 is being rescheduled, the CDC said on
Thursday on its website. The
Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC and
FDA, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some experts questioned the focus on booster shots when around 30%
of eligible Americans have yet to get even a first vaccine dose,
despite new COVID-19 cases and deaths surging across the country.
"The more important thing, I think, at this point than boosters is
making sure we get the vaccine in any arm that hasn't had one as
fast as we can," said Dr. Dan McQuillen, an infectious disease
specialist in Burlington, Massachusetts, and the incoming president
of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
 All experts interviewed by Reuters also emphasized the need to
inoculate the vast number of people around the world who have yet to
access COVID-19 vaccines.
"You could end up in situation where you are chasing your tail,
giving more and more boosters in the U.S. and Western Europe, while
more dangerous variants are coming from other places," said Dr.
Isaac Weisfuse, epidemiologist and adjunct professor at Cornell
University Public Health.
"In reality you should be vaccinating the rest of the world to avoid
new variants."
(Reporting By Deena Beasley in Los Angeles and Ahmed Aboulenein in
Washington DC; Editing by Michele Gershberg)
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