Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 booster shots coming Sept. 20, Biden admin says

Image via U.S. Navy.

Americans who received Pfizer or Moderna vaccines can get COVID-19 booster shots this fall, President Joe Biden’s administration announced Wednesday.

A third vaccine dose will be available Sept. 20 “and starting 8 months after an individual’s second dose,” a statement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci and others said Wednesday.

Those who were fully vaccinated earliest — nursing home residents, other seniors and many health care providers — will be able to get the mRNA booster shot first.

The plan is pending an independent evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of a third shot by the Food and Drug Administration and further CDC analysis, Murthy said.

The extra doses, like those that started to be administered late last year, will be free “regardless of immigration or health insurance status,” White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients said. Those wishing to receive the booster will also not have to show ID.

“It will be just as easy to get a booster shot as it is to get the first shot today,” Zients said. “We have enough vaccine supply for every American, and you’ll be able to get a booster at roughly 80,000 places across the country, including over 40,000 local pharmacies. In fact, 90% of Americans have a vaccine site within five miles of where they live.”

The three COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the U.S. — Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — “continue to be remarkably effective” in protecting people from severe disease, hospitalization and death, the statement said.

But available data has made clear that vaccine protection against COVID-19 infection decreases over time, and federal health experts have begun to see reduced protections against the virus.

“Based on our latest assessment, the current protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death could diminish in the months ahead, especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout,” the statement said. “For that reason, we conclude that a booster shot will be needed to maximize vaccine-induced protection and prolong its durability.”

Officials said a booster shot for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “will likely be needed” as well, but since doses weren’t administered until March 21, more time and information is needed to develop a distribution and administration plan.

The highly transmissible delta variant of COVID-19 now accounts for nearly 99% of all new U.S. infections, according to the most recent figures from the CDC, which cites studies from Canada and Scotland that found the variant to be deadlier than earlier iterations of the virus.

Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, said Monday they submitted data to the CDC supporting a booster shots for the public and that a small study by Pfizer found that people who received third doses had higher levels of antibodies against several versions of the virus, including the delta variant.

The announcement Wednesday marked an about-face for Biden, who last month downplayed the need for a booster but said he could change his mind if more information arose to support the move.

“No American needs a booster now,” he said at the time. “But if the science tells us there’s a need for boosters, then that’s something we’ll do, and we have purchased … all the supply we need to be ready if that was called for.”