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U.S. experts are expected to recommend COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all Americans, regardless of age, eight months after they received their second dose of the shot, to ensure lasting protection against the coronavirus as the delta variant spreads across the country. Federal health officials have been actively looking at whether extra shots for the vaccinated would be needed as early as this fall, reviewing case numbers in the U.S. as well as the situation in other countries such as Israel, where preliminary studies suggest the vaccine’s protection against serious illness dropped among those vaccinated in January. (Miller, 8/17)

Officials said they expect that recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was authorized as a one-dose regimen, will also require an additional dose. But they are waiting for the results of that firm’s two-dose clinical trial, expected later this month. (LaFraniere, 8/16)

California’s health department and the scientific review panel that also represents three other western states recommended Monday that individuals whose immune systems are compromised get an additional vaccine dose “to ensure extra protection from COVID-19.” “As California continues to see an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, it is critical we take action to protect immunocompromised people who are most vulnerable to severe disease,” Dr. Tomas Aragón, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. (Vaziri, 8/16)

Healthcare providers plan to incorporate the distribution of an additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine to immunocompromised individuals with their existing vaccination campaigns—and as preparation for future efforts to get extra doses to a larger share of Americans. Providers such as New York-based Mount Sinai Health System and Maywood, Illinois-based Loyola Medicine are getting ready to start providing extra doses to vaccinated patients, but key questions remain unanswered for hospitals. (Ross Johnson, 8/16)

Pfizer and BioNTech said a booster or third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and elicits an antibody response at levels that "significantly exceed" those seen in individuals who receive two doses of the jab. The companies revealed the Phase 1 data when announcing that it had been submitted to the FDA. "Vaccination is our most effective means of preventing COVID-19 infection – especially severe disease and hospitalization – and its profound impact on protecting lives is indisputable," Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and CEO, said in a news release. "The data we’ve seen to date suggest a third dose of our vaccine elicits antibody levels that significantly exceed those seen after the two-dose primary schedule. We are pleased to submit these data to the FDA as we continue working together to address the evolving challenges of this pandemic." (Hein, 8/16)

As the Delta variant rages around the world, a heated debate has arisen over whether public health officials should recommend booster shots. On one side are global health officials who contend that available vaccines would be better used to inoculate high-risk people in poor nations where few have gotten the shots. On the other are leaders and health officials in wealthier countries, who are setting aside doses for more vulnerable people who may need additional doses to protect them from the virus. (Slotnik and Weiland, 8/16)

Wealthy countries — including some that have started giving some people third doses — have been receiving coronavirus vaccine doses that were either made in or intended for low- or middle-income countries. This only widens the gap in vaccine access between wealthy and poor countries, which could ultimately have global consequences. (Owens, 8/17)