The Biden administration is working on a policy that could allow the general population to obtain COVID-19 vaccine boosters, part of a phased rollout that reportedly might begin as soon as the fall despite an array of concerns, from safety and logistics to ethics. Like with the initial distribution of coronavirus vaccinations last year, the first booster shots would likely go to nursing home residents, health care workers, and other vulnerable groups, the New York Times reports. White House officials “envision giving people the same vaccine they originally received” and “have discussed starting the effort in October but have not settled on a timetable,” according to the Times.
Among the factors complicating the administration’s booster strategy is the outstanding question of whether an additional shot is currently necessary for the general U.S. population. Scientists are still unsure how long people remain protected, and “everyone is confused because there is not a lot of published data,” Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and Dean of the Baylor College of Medicine, told the Times. “The question is how vulnerable are we, and the numbers are a bit all over the map.”
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said last week that “sooner or later you will need a booster” and that President Joe Biden’s team was preparing accordingly. The White House’s stance is that “they cannot afford to put off figuring out the logistics of providing boosters to millions of people until that tipping point is reached,” the Times reports. But doing so at a time of uneven access to vaccines worldwide presents a possible moral dilemma. Some prominent scientists “say booster shots are at best premature and at worst unethical absent convincing real-world evidence showing that the effectiveness of the vaccines against severe disease and hospitalization is waning,” according to the Times. Earlier this month, the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on COVID booster shots, citing the lack of data and the global inequity in vaccine availability.
News of the Biden administration’s strategizing comes days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized third doses of Pfizer and Moderna for certain immunocompromised Americans, a move that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention subsequently supported with its recommendation. But that guidance sowed confusion among those who don’t yet qualify for a third dose—some of whom, as my colleague Nick Bilton reported earlier this month, have started taking matters into their own hands. As the highly infectious delta variant spreads, along with reports of rare breakthrough infections, many “impatient and affluent people” who “jumped the line the first time” are now trying to nab a booster shot. In some cases, they are using fake names and traveling to different counties or states to do so, Bilton reported. At least one justified this action by pointing to the current U.S. stockpile of at least 100 million doses. “Even if you’re sneaking to get a third shot, it’s not like you’re taking it from someone else” given that “there are millions of vaccines ending up in the garbage each day,” a person planning to get a booster told Bilton.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told CNN last week that “the data is going to drive our decision” as to when the administration recommends boosters for the general population. But plenty of people don’t seem to be willing to wait for that green light: More than a million Americans who received a two-dose vaccine have already received a third dose, a CDC official said Friday.
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