The CDC on Wednesday endorsed the FDA’s recommendation that older and immunocompromised Americans be given a second dose of the bivalent COVID vaccine, according to the New York Times.
In a nod to the ongoing risk the coronavirus poses to millions of Americans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended on Wednesday that adults 65 and older and those with weakened immune systems receive another dose of the reformulated booster that debuted last fall.
The endorsement followed a daylong discussion by the C.D.C.’s expert advisers. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the booster plan on Tuesday, and the C.D.C.’s recommendation was the final administrative step. Eligible Americans will be able to receive booster doses immediately.
Federal health officials are also phasing out the original vaccine formulas created by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, revoking their authorizations in the United States. And instead of needing an initial series of two shots, unvaccinated people will now require just a single dose of the reformulated, or “bivalent,” Covid shot to be considered vaccinated.