Top in ID: Experts, FDA committee do not support COVID-19 boosters for general public
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Experts said that current evidence suggests that a COVID-19 vaccine booster is not necessary for the general public at this time. Amesh A. Adalja, MD, shared his perspective on the topic. It was the top story in infectious disease last week.
Also, an FDA committee voted against a blanket recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine booster doses. However, it did recommend booster doses for people aged 65 years and older, as well as those at risk for severe COVID-19.
Read these and more top stories in infectious disease below:
Evidence does not support boosters for general public, experts argue
In a new viewpoint published in The Lancet, Philip R. Krause, MD, MS, deputy director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review, and experts from six other countries and WHO argued that “current evidence does not ... appear to show a need for boosting in the general population, in which efficacy against severe disease remains high.” Read more.
FDA committee votes against blanket recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine boosters
The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 16-2 on Friday afternoon not to recommend a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to Americans aged 16 years and older. Read more.
Among three COVID-19 vaccines, Moderna’s shows highest efficacy against hospitalizations
Vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalization among U.S. adults without immunocompromising conditions was highest for the Moderna vaccine compared with the other two available COVID-19 vaccines, researchers reported in MMWR. Read more.
Biden plan ‘pretty comprehensive’ but lacks direction on surveillance, testing, treatment
President Joe Biden announced a six-pronged plan to combat a national rise in COVID-19 cases brought on by the delta variant. Read more.
Researchers identify 28 new foods associated with disease outbreaks
CDC researchers identified 28 food items that caused disease outbreaks for the first time between 2007 and 2016 in the United States. Read more.