Long-term care residents are one step closer to receiving Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster shots after an advisory panel affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved a key recommendation Thursday.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended booster doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for select adult populations, including residents living in long-term care facilities and seniors aged 65 and older.
The third dose is only available for those who were initially vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, not Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. Moderna has submitted data to federal health officials on its own booster shot.
The committee’s recommendation now will head to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky for final approval. Shots can begin being administered immediately if she approves the recommendations.
The panel also recommended that people ages 50 to 64 with underlying medical conditions receive a third dose, and for adults ages 18 to 49 with underlying medical conditions. The advisory group however did not extend that recommendation to people who work in high-risk settings for COVID-19 transmission.
The approval came a day after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the single booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine for older adults and high-risk patients six months after receiving their second shot.
