US officials working on a plan to allow second Covid-19 boosters for all adults
By Kaitlan Collins and Katherine Dillinger, CNN
US health officials are urgently working on a plan to allow second Covid-19 boosters for all adults, a senior White House official confirmed to CNN on Monday.
The US Food and Drug Administration is making it a high priority, the official said.
Second boosters have been authorized for adults 50 and older, as well as some people with weakened immune systems, since late March. But younger adults are eligible for only one booster shot, which was authorized in November. Federal agencies are looking to move quickly on authorizing a second booster for all adults, the source said.
Some experts are concerned that younger adults’ immunity may be waning as Covid-19 cases rise with the dominance of the BA.5 Omicron subvariant. Reinfections are more likely with BA.5 than with any previous variants because of immune escape features, Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, said on CNNI Monday.
However, it remains unclear how many American adults would get a second booster dose if one is authorized. As of Thursday, about half of Americans 18 and up who are eligible for a first booster have gotten it, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just over a quarter of eligible adults 50 and over have gotten a second booster.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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