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The Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize a second COVID-19 booster shot for people over the age of 50. The authorization could come as early as Tuesday (March 29) and would apply to vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer.
According to CNN, the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plan to bypass the independent groups of advisors that usually weigh in on these decisions. Instead, the CDC will give a "permissive recommendation," in which the agency won't officially recommend the second booster dose but will make it available for anybody who wants to get it.
The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on April 6 to discuss booster doses and variant-specific vaccines.
Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist who is director of the Scripps Translational Research Institute in California, told CNN that he supports allowing more people to get a booster dose.
"There are solid data from Israel for age 60+ (the only group reported on to date) for enhanced protection (vs severe illness) out to 3 months compared with 3 doses. It is reasonable to extend that and provide it as an option, since the 3rd dose has pronounced benefit in age 50+," Topol wrote in an email.