"This isn't about who deserves a booster, it's about who needs a booster," Dr. Matthew Daley, a CDC advisory committee member from Kaiser Permanente Colorado, told the agency at their meeting on Pfizer boosters, stressing people over 65 and long term care facility residents should be prioritized.
Though they are a small fraction of the fully vaccinated in the US (8%), real world data is showing they are at risk.
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J&J's single shot vaccine is clearly not protecting them from hospitalization and death as well as the two shot mRNA vaccines.
People under 65 with Pfizer or Moderna don't really need boosters, data suggests
A plethora of real-world data on Pfizer and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines is showing that they're both doing quite well at protecting people from serious illness.
In fact, Moderna's vaccine was so effective at preventing hospitalizations among adults aged 30-49 (more than 95%) that federal scientists couldn't even calculate what effect a booster shot might have on their risk of hospitalization, because it is already so slim.
There are always individual differences to consider, but generally speaking, boosters aren't giving young people much extra benefit right now.
For adults 65 and up, the benefits of a boost are clearer. Fewer than 860 adults in the 65+ age group would need to be boosted with Moderna to prevent one hospitalization, and under 500 adults who got Pfizer would need to be boosted to prevent the same.
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Why older and immunocompromised people could use a boost
CDC advisors said the real reason boosters are even being considered for younger frontline workers, like hospital staff, is because there is such a long line of critically ill unvaccinated patients to care for - hospitals can't afford to have any vaccinated staff out sick while COVID-19 is spreading so fast among the unvaccinated.
While there is early evidence that boosters might cut down on transmission or mild illness, no booster shot of any vaccine will ever completely eliminate the risk of a breakthrough infection while community transmission is high, and it's unreasonable to expect it to do so.
Boosters might be needed for everyone some day as vaccine protection wanes, but that day hasn't come yet.
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Vaccines are saving lives, even without boosters
Despite the fact that vaccines work to prevent serious outcomes in younger adults, COVID-19 was the leading cause of death for people ages 35-54 in September, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. Almost all of those deaths could've been prevented if unvaccinated people got vaccinated.
"We're fighting a pandemic, and it's not because people got two doses of vaccine," Dr. Helen Keipp Talbot, a CDC advisory committee member from Vanderbilt University, said at a recent meeting on boosters.
If you're over 65, immunocompromised, or got J&J's vaccine, you probably could benefit from a booster.
For everyone else, passing around boosters like Halloween candy may be like putting "lipstick on a frog," Talbot said.
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