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Who should get Covid-19 vaccine boosters? Former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Scott Gottlieb said this is tied to the public health goal.
Friday, FDA approved Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine boosters for all adults, but did not require people to have boosters to be considered fully vaccinated.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Agreed with the FDA on Friday and currently recommending Adult residents age 50 or older or in long-term care should “get” a Moderna or Pfizer booster, while other adults can “get” one. The agency also recommends that all adults who receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be supported.
Speaking about the current proposals on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Pfizer board member Dr. Gottlieb said: There are two views on the purpose of boosters: If vaccines are intended to protect people from serious Covid infections, they should be recommended for people over 50. After six months, immunity to vaccines declines in the elderly, putting them at increased risk. serious infection and Dr. “It’s a bad result,” Gottlieb said.
However, he added that if the purpose of boosters is to slow or stop the transmission of the coronavirus, they should be recommended to young people. Dr. Gottlieb said that boosters may not help these people avoid serious illness because their immunity is already good, but they may prevent young people from infecting others.
“You’re suggesting the booster as a tool to reduce the chance of infecting them,” he explained.
This kind of strategy is not new to the infectious disease world. Boys are vaccinated against rubella or German measles. But the goal is not to protect them – the disease is mild in children. Instead, it’s meant to prevent men from transmitting the virus to pregnant women — rubella can cause serious birth defects.
Girls are also given the rubella vaccine to prevent them from spreading the virus, but also to protect their fetuses when they grow up, if they become pregnant.
The booster status is uncertain at this time and recommendations may vary from state to state. Only the governors of Connecticut and New Mexico said everyone needed three doses of the Covid vaccine to be fully vaccinated. Dr. Gottlieb said he didn’t think the CDC would recommend that everyone get three doses anytime soon, given the debate among public health experts about the vaccination target.
“The kind of stuttering approach of the CDC to how they adopt boosters somewhat reflects this debate,” he said.
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