CDC panel recommends COVID-19 vaccine boosters be available to all adults

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices votes hours after FDA approves Pfizer, Moderna boosters.
Navy nurse Covid-19 vaccine
By Greg Piper

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended COVID-19 vaccine boosters be made available to all adults Friday, just hours after the FDA authorized Pfizer and Moderna boosters for all adults.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to rubber-stamp the recommendation, meaning jabs will be available to all adults six months after their second Pfizer or Moderna dose or two months after a Johnson & Johnson jab, according to The Hill.

Boosters were previously recommended for those over 65, at high risk based on work or geography, or who have an underlying medical condition.

ACIP also voted to recommend all adults over 50 get boosters, The Washington Post reported. They already account for the vast majority of Americans getting boosters - 70%.

Relatively few adults are getting their first vaccine shots, with two-thirds going to adult boosters and new shots for 5-17 year olds, according to CDC data.

President Biden's top COVID-19 medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said this week there are "inklings" of waning protection against severe infection from the initial vaccination series.