by John-Michael Dumais, Childrens Health Defense:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday recommended an extra COVID-19 booster for seniors over 65 after its expert panel sparred over making it optional. Experts are wary of public “vaccine fatigue” with only 13% of children and 22% of adults getting the boosters in 2023.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday endorsed a recommendation that adults 65 and older get an extra dose of the updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine.
The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended the additional dose for seniors, acknowledging their increased risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 infection.
CDC Director Mandy Cohen said the recommendation allows older adults to “receive an additional dose of this season’s COVID-19 vaccine to provide added protection.”
She cited statistics showing that over half of COVID-19 hospitalizations late last year were among adults 65 and older, who also accounted for most deaths.
According to the CDC, the extra vaccine dose will restore protection that may have waned in older adults “at highest risk” since the previous fall booster shots.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September recommended the “updated” COVID-19 vaccine targeting the XBB.1.5 strain for everyone 6 months and older.
Yet as one user on X (formerly known as Twitter) pointed out, the XBB.1.5 strain is now rarely found in circulation:
The CDC recommended today that everyone ≥65 get an additional dose of the updated 2023-24 COVID booster which “targets the XBB lineage of the Omicron variant.” Yet the CDC’s own prevalence data shows that the XBB lineage had, as of mid Feb, all but disappeared from circulation. https://t.co/xhCbHe4BLp pic.twitter.com/2G48P8C520
— Don Wolt (@tlowdon) February 28, 2024
The CDC on Feb. 23 issued an update on the changing threat of COVID-19, noting that while hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 were decreasing, “risks continue to be higher for older adults, infants and people with pre-existing medical conditions.”
“CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older get an updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine,” the update stated — including “pregnant people … at any time during pregnancy.”
Vaccine fatigue clouds new booster guidance
The CDC’s move to endorse another COVID-19 vaccine booster for seniors comes amid intensifying “vaccine fatigue” among the public and medical experts.
According to The Associated Press, the ACIP committee engaged in a “lengthy discussion about whether to say older people ‘may’ get the shots or if they ‘should’ do so,” reflecting an ongoing debate about the necessity of additional boosters.
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