Debate over whether Americans should receive a booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as planned by the Biden administration moved to a panel of independent expert advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday.
While U.S. health officials, some other countries and vaccine makers have said boosters are needed, many scientists, including some inside the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , disagree.
Dr. Peter Marks, one of the FDA's top officials, acknowledged on Friday that there are different opinions on the necessity of booster shots and urged panelists to consider the current dynamics of the outbreak in the United States. "They're going to be in a difficult position, because I think most of them would believe that over 60 is justified and then under 60 is going to be a gray area," said John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, who has reviewed the presentations.
An analysis by Israeli scientists published on Wednesday found that among 1.1 million people age 60 or older who had been fully vaccinated at least five months earlier, those who received a booster were less likely to be infected or become severely ill than those who did not get the third shot.
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