Top federal health officials warn that booster shots initially may be limited to Pfizer recipients
Top federal health officials have warned the White House that the Biden administration’s plan to begin offering booster shots to most Americans later this month may have to be limited initially, with third shots made available only to people who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, according to people familiar with the matter.
Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients on Thursday that their agencies may not be able to approve a more expansive coronavirus booster plan that they, along with other top doctors across the administration, endorsed last month.
Woodcock and Walensky told Zients that, by the end of this month, they may be able to approve and recommend booster shots only for people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Some officials said Friday that reviews of the other vaccines’ boosters could take an additional few weeks, though they cautioned it depends on the data.
Now, Woodcock and Walensky, who have faced criticism for endorsing a plan before their agencies completed their reviews, have warned that staff may need more time to make a determination about boosters for people who received the Moderna vaccine. The FDA has only partial data on Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters. Pfizer and BioNTech submitted late-stage booster data late last month.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/09/03/booster-shot-delay-pfizer-first/
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