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The Biden administration's top health experts said Wednesday that COVID-19 booster shots are necessary for even young and healthy adults, despite conflicting data, and hinted a decision on the matter would arrive by the end of the week. Although COVID-19 breakthrough cases are becoming more common as vaccine efficacy wanes over time, severe disease, hospitalization and death are rare for vaccinated and otherwise healthy adults. But the nation's leading voices on public health said they want to offer already vaccinated Americans as much protection as possible. (Cohen, 11/17)

Under pressure to widen global access to Covid-19 vaccines, the Biden administration plans to invest billions of dollars to expand U.S. manufacturing capacity with an eye toward producing at least 1 billion doses annually no later than the second half of 2022. But the effort was greeted with mixed reactions. Patient advocates lauded the move, but at the same time, they lamented such a step was not taken months ago and questioned some of the details. (Silverman, 11/17)

Currently, booster shots in the U.S. should be limited to those with pre-existing medical conditions and people 65 or older, according to guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But so far, health departments in New York, New Jersey, California and six other states have independently broadened access to Covid-19 boosters, and that number is expected to grow. The diverging guidance has some health experts worried. “I think that it is a very bad idea and precedent for states and localities to jump the gun,” said Jesse Goodman, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University and former Food and Drug Administration chief scientist. “Even if well intentioned, acting locally injects politics and undermines the national system of expert and transparent vaccine assessment.” (Rutherford, 11/17)

The Food and Drug Administration’s committee of outside experts is not planning to meet to discuss the data on Pfizer’s request for authorization of boosters-for-all, which federal officials are expected to greenlight this week, as they have for other critical decisions on COVID-19 vaccines. The move signals that the Biden administration is willing to forge ahead without the signoff of the FDA’s scientific advisers, who twice voted to reject boosters for the young and healthy who don’t face high exposure risks, as pockets of the country show foreboding signs of a coming winter wave. (Kopp, 11/17)

The pace of vaccination against the coronavirus among newly eligible younger children is accelerating, and nearly 10 percent of the nation’s 5- to 11-year olds have already had their first shot, the White House estimated on Wednesday. Last week alone, 1.7 million young children were vaccinated, about double the previous week, Jeff Zients, President Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator, said at a White House Covid-19 briefing. The administration estimates that by the end of Wednesday, 2.6 million of the 28 million children in that age group will have had their first of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the only one currently authorized for them. (Gay Stolberg, 11/17)

More than 2 million children have already received their first dose of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine, just two weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized distribution of the shots for kids ages 5 to 11. “We estimate by the end of the day today 2.6 million kids ages 5 to 11 will have gotten their first shot; 2.6 million — that’s about 10% of kids,” Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, told reporters during a briefing Wednesday. (Kimball, 11/17)

A Lorton-area pharmacy administered coronavirus vaccine dosages intended for children aged 12 and older to 25 younger patients during an eight-day period earlier this month, Fairfax County and Virginia health officials said Wednesday. KC Pharmacy staffers issued the incorrect doses of the Pfizer vaccine to children between the ages of 5 and 11 from Nov. 2 to Nov. 10, according to a statement released by the county. (Williams, 11/18)

On Saturday, Denise Iserloth took her two sons, ages 8 and 11, to get vaccinated against COVID-19. A few hours later, the older boy lost his balance and fell twice. Both boys complained of stomachaches and nausea. Soon, Iserloth found out why. The clinic, Sutter Health in Antioch, had given her sons twice the dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that children their age should receive. Twelve other children also received the double dose. (Solis, 11/17)

KHN: Schools, Pediatricians Look To Make Up Lost Ground On Non-Covid Vaccinations

Melissa Blatzer was determined to get her three children caught up on their routine immunizations on a recent Saturday morning at a walk-in clinic in this Denver suburb. It had been about a year since the kids’ last shots, a delay Blatzer chalked up to the pandemic. Two-year-old Lincoln Blatzer, in his fleece dinosaur pajamas, waited anxiously in line for his hepatitis A vaccine. His siblings, 14-year-old Nyla Kusumah and 11-year-old Nevan Kusumah, were there for their TDAP, HPV and meningococcal vaccines, plus a covid-19 shot for Nyla. (Ruder, 11/18)