Covid booster: US FDA gives nod to Pfizer for booster for 65+ and high risk people

Covid booster shot has got a nod from the United States drug regulator. The Food and Drug Administration authorized a booster dose of Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine for people 65 and older and for certain high-risk adult population. Booster doses can be given any time at least six months after a person received their second shot, the FDA said in a statement.

Pfizer said In documents made public last week that an observational study in Israel showed a third dose of the Covid vaccine six months after a second shot restores protection from infection to 95%.

Though Americans 65 and older make up roughly 17% of the U.S. population, they account for more than 77% of all Covid deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to meet Thursday to make its own recommendations about who should receive the additional dose.