The Story:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided not to approve the use of a Pfizer booster shot for the general public. But, in September 22, it endorsed a limited use: boosters for people 65 years old and older,”front line” people such as teachers and health care workers, and other high risk groups. The “booster” consists simply of a third jab of the same vaccine that many have received in two doses already.
Significance:
There is a range of opinions over the booster shot. President Joe Biden was hoping that the FDA would approve a program offering a booster shot to every fully vaccinated American who wants it.
But Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, wants a moratorium on booster shots in the developed countries until every poor country has vaccinated at least 40% of its population.
The FDA’s decision has pleased neither the President nor the director general.
In Pill Form:
The discussion of booster shots has become urgent since the publication of recent studies, both from Israel and from the United Kingdom, that conclude that the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines may wane in a period between six and eight months after the second shot.
