CDC recommends 2nd COVID shot for some, lowering age for pneumococcal vaccination
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Key takeaways:
- The CDC recommended second doses for people aged 65 years or older and moderately or severely immunocompromised people.
- The committee also recommended lowering the range of pneumococcal vaccination to 50 years.
A CDC advisory committee on Wednesday recommended that adults aged 65 years or older and anyone who is at least moderately immunocompromised receive a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine this season.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices also recommended lowering the age for routine pneumococcal conjugate vaccination to 50 years.
CDC Director Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, later signed off on the recommendations, making them official.
Additional COVID shot
The ACIP made a similar recommendation earlier this year that adults aged 65 years or older receive a COVID-19 spring booster shot roughly 6 months, or at least 2 months, after their previous dose.
The new recommendations go beyond people aged 65 years or older to include a second dose for people aged 6 months to 64 years who are moderately or severely immunocompromised. The second dose should be give 6 months after the first shot. The committee said people with moderate or severe immunocompromise may receive more than one additional dose based on a discussion with their provider — a shared clinical decision-making recommendation.
According to the CDC, COVID-19 test positivity, ED visits, hospitalizations and deaths have declined in recent weeks after a late-summer surge in cases and hospitalizations.
Members of the committee lamented that COVID-19 vaccination rates were low for nearly all age groups and wondered if there is a messaging issue. CDC data show that, as of Oct. 12, just 11.5% (95% CI, 10.8%-12.6%) of adults had received a 2024-2025 vaccine, and only 19.4% (95% CI, 18%-20.9%) reported they planned to “definitely” get a dose.
Changing pneumococcal vaccine recommendations
The ACIP also recommended a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for all people aged 50 years or older who have not received one before, which would lower the universal adult recommendation by 15 years.
In June, when the CDC recommended a new 21-valent pneumococcal vaccine (PCV21) made specifically for adults, it considered several different options and settled on a universal recommendation only for unvaccinated adults aged 65 years or older, and an additional recommendation for adults aged 19 to 64 with certain risk factors, like an underlying medical condition.
The ACIP said at the time that it intended to consider issuing a recommendation for people in younger age groups, and has now done that.
There are numerous pneumococcal vaccines available for children and adults. The current CDC recommendations for adults say that people aged 65 years or older should receive a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine — PCV15, PCV20 or PCV21 — if they have never been vaccinated or their vaccine history is unknown.
There are additional recommendations for people who receive PCV15 and are immunocompromised or have a cochlear implant or cerebrospinal fluid leak, who should get the 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine at minimum of 8 weeks later.
References:
- CDC. Advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP): Next ACIP meeting: Anticipated votes. https://www.cdc.gov/acip/meetings/upcoming.html. Updated Oct. 7, 2024. Accessed Oct. 23, 2024.
- CDC. COVIDVaxView: Weekly COVID-19 vaccination dashboard. https://www.cdc.gov/covidvaxview/weekly-dashboard/index.html. Updated Oct. 22, 2024. Accessed Oct. 23, 2024.
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