This week, the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee met to discuss fall booster shots, in anticipation of another COVID-19 surge next winter. The discussion demonstrated the U.S.’s continued failure to provide the data that are really needed to make these decisions.
Sources and updates for the week of May 15 include COVID-19 deaths that could’ve been prevented by vaccines, the CDC potentially losing access to key data, testing declines, and more.
Last fall, I wrote that the U.S. did not have the data we needed to make informed decisions about booster shots. Several months later, we still don’t have the data we need, as questions about a potential BA.2 wave and other future variants abound. Discussions at a recent FDA advisory committee meeting made these data gaps clear.
Sources and updates for the week of March 27 include workplace violence for public health officials, at-home tests, and another round of booster shots.
Omicron updates this week include BA.2’s transmissibility, the importance of vaccination to protect against severe symptoms, and the U.S.’s high death toll.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, under an Emergency Use Authorization. The agency’s vaccine advisory committee met on Tuesday to discuss Pfizer’s application and voted overwhelmingly in favor; the FDA followed this up with an EUA announcement on Friday.