FDA Advisory Panel Votes Against Pfizer Third Shot Boosters for Those Under 65

FDA Advisory Panel Votes Against Pfizer Third Shot Boosters for Those Under 65

The scientific and political debate over a third-shot booster vaccine to combat the coronavirus took a controversial turn on Friday.

The scientific advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration on Friday overwhelmingly voted against approving a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine for people 16 and older.

“The committee voted  16 to 3 after holding an intense daylong public discussion on whether booster shots are necessary and if so, for whom. The Biden administration has been hoping the F.D.A. would approve a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine in time to begin rolling out boosters for Pfizer recipients next week,” the New York Times reports.

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The panel did vote to recommend a booster to people 65 years and older — as well as people who are at risk of severe Covid — the vote was 18 to 0. panel.

The FDA does not have to follow the panel's recommendations.

This vote is in conflict with President Joe Biden’s promise to begin boosters this month.

“The vote came after a sharp debate in which many of the panel’s independent experts, including infectious disease doctors and statisticians, challenged whether the data justified a broad rollout of extra shots when the vaccines appear to still offer robust protection against severe Covid-19 disease and hospitalization, at least in the United States,” according to the Times.

Israel has been giving booster shots to call respects 50 and older.

“It’s unclear that everyone needs to be boosted, other than a subset of the population that clearly would be at high risk for serious disease,” said Dr. Michael G. Kurilla, a committee member and official at the National Institutes of Health.

The Rhode Island Department of Health issued a statement late on Friday afternoon stating, "While they voted in favor of recommending a booster dose for select groups of people, CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) makes recommendations about vaccines that the FDA has approved. The CDC then sets the adult and childhood immunization schedules based on those ACIP recommendations."

"As is our practice, Rhode Island will wait for ACIP to issue its guidelines before authorizing the use of booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine in Rhode Island. ACIP is currently scheduled to meet on September 22nd and September 23rd to make a recommendation," stated Health.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated at 4:54 PM