Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Administration May Soon Allow All Adults To Get Second Booster Shot
Top Biden administration officials are weighing a plan to let all adults get a second round of coronavirus booster shots, two people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. The deliberations stem from growing concerns over the potential for a summer Covid surge driven by the more transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.5, as hospitalizations rise nationwide. ... Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only recommends that people over 50 and those who are immunocompromised get additional boosters. So far, fewer than 28 percent of Americans in that age group have received their second booster. (Cancryn, 7/11)
While the booster plan still needs formal sign-off from regulators and public health officials, it has the backing of White House coronavirus coordinator Ashish Jha and Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, according to five officials who like others interviewed in this report spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plan. (Diamond, McGinley and Sun, 7/11)
Expanding eligibility for a fourth dose of vaccine to younger adults would require regulatory approval; more discussions with officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected in the coming days, according to people familiar with the situation. (LaFraniere, 7/12)
In news about the new Novavax vaccine —
The Biden administration announced this morning that it would buy 3.2 million doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to soon receive authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, according to a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) news release. The protein-based vaccine would be offered as a primary series of two shots. If approved, it will be the fourth COVID-19 vaccine available to US adults. (7/11)
In other news about the vaccine rollout —
Enough soldiers in the Texas Army National Guard to almost fill a brigade have been put on notice: Get your coronavirus shots or get out of uniform. And more than a few appear headed toward the exits. The deadline for National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers to comply with the Pentagon’s coronavirus order passed June 30, with 86 percent of the Texas Army National Guard and 92 percent of the Air National Guard vaccinated. (Christenson, 7/11)
