COVID Updates: FDA Expected to Allow 2nd Vaccination for Americans Over 50

WASHINGTON – As soon as Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can authorize the COVID-19 vaccine for Americans over 50, two officials familiar with the matter told ABC News, although a fourth vaccine is likely to be offered. rather than officially recommended.

Officials stressed that details are still being discussed and may change in the coming days.

Following the expected FDA approval earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will give advice on how to implement it in pharmacies and doctor’s offices across the country as the process went on throughout the pandemic.

“Although we have limited information on the value of the second booster, we know that the surge is likely to occur, and it is better to plan ahead and vaccinate for a significant surge,” said epidemiologist John Braunstein of the Boston Children’s Center. Hospital.
“We’re probably heading to where we all end up getting this fourth shot.”

Dr Anthony Foci said on Sunday he would not be surprised if an “intermittent” increase in COVID-19 became the norm.

“I would not be surprised, although there is no guarantee that we will need periodic reinforcements, something like what we see about the flu shot every year,” Foci said in a speech to the BBC’s Sunday Morning. program.

Foci reiterated that U.S. officials continue to monitor whether the country can follow a similar growth trend as in the UK, as the presence of the omicron sub-option, BA.2, continues to grow domestically and internationally.

The U.S. does have the funds to deliver the vaccine to anyone over the age of 50 this spring, health and social services executives told ABC News.

This is confirmation in light of the news that all Americans over the age of 50 are expected to soon be eligible for accelerators, but Congressional funding remains deadlocked.

Earlier, the administration said that there are funds for the elderly, but did not specify the age.

“If the current FDA recommendation for boosters for 50 and older is allowed, and if the CDC recommends it, we expect that there will now be enough current doses. Connel, Assistant Secretary for Readiness and Response at HHS.

If the U.S. needs a specific version of the vaccine in a few months, “it will be a little more expensive. And we don’t have those doses on hand. We also don’t have the funds to cover those doses,” she said.