CDC OKs COVID vaccine booster for workers at risk

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday overruled a recommendation by an agency advisory panel that had refused to endorse booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine for frontline workers (Source: “C.D.C. Chief Overrules Agency Panel and Recommends Pfizer-BioNTech Boosters for Workers at Risk,” New York Times, Sept. 24).

It was a highly unusual move for the director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, but aligned CDC policy with the Food and Drug Administration’s endorsements over her own agency’s advisers.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Thursday recommended the boosters for a wide range of Americans, including tens of millions of older adults and younger people at high risk for the disease. But they excluded health care workers, teachers and others whose jobs put them at risk. That put their recommendations at odds with the FDA’s authorization of booster shots for all adults with a high occupational risk.

The White House could begin promoting and rolling out a plan for booster shots as soon as Friday.