A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee meets today to debate the idea of a booster shot for the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. LSU Health Shreveport’s Dr. John Vanchiere, oversaw the clinical trial of the Pfizer vaccine in north Louisiana and says the agency has much to consider from the data collected thus far.
“So we’re going to being looks at folks by age if people over 65 should get boosters and then whether the general public or health care workers so there are a lot of different subgroups of data that are being looked at,” said Vanchiere.
The FDA get-together today may or may not lead to an immediate decision on the necessity for a third shot. The CDC will have the final say on who should get a third shot and when.
“We know that a third dose will boost anybody’s and everybody’s immune response but the question is it necessary from a medical perspective to give everybody a booster or just those subgroups,” said Vanchiere.
Vanchiere says the data shows that for people over the age of 65 their immunity begins to wane six to eight months after they complete the second shot of the vaccine.
“It’s not waning very quickly, but maintaining high levels of immunity we know will save lives, prevent hospitalizations and reduce transmission in the community,” according to Vanchiere.
Thus far, the FDA has been mostly neutral on the need for boosters, while the Biden administration hopes to launch a campaign next week favoring the additional shot.
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