Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Vaccine Advisers Weigh Who Should Get Boosters, And When
CNN: CDC Advisers Mull What's Next For Covid-19 Boosters
Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to mull over what the future of Covid-19 booster shots might look like – and they acknowledge that entirely different vaccine formulations could be needed. At their meeting Wednesday, the members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices discussed their next steps around recommending additional booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines for the general public. (Howard, 4/20)
Bloomberg: Should I Get A Covid Booster? Most Under 50 Should Wait, Says CDC Panel
Most Americans under 50 should wait for the next generation of booster shots rather than getting a fourth dose now to prevent Covid-19 infections, according to several members of a panel of advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The goal of booster shots should be to limit severe outcomes rather than to prevent transmission of the virus, the advisers said in a meeting Wednesday. That means people with high risk of grave illness from an infection should consider an extra shot, but most people should hold out for better vaccines later this year, they said. (Rutherford and Castronuovo, 4/20)
CIDRAP: CDC Advisers Discuss Future Of COVID-19 Booster Shots
ACIP members voiced concerns about booster fatigue, and creating the impression that a vaccination program that required large swathes of the population to get boosted every 4 to 6 months would be viewed as unsuccessful. They also emphases that the primary series of vaccines, the first two doses, remained the most important in terms of preventing deaths. No votes were cast today as ACIP members discussed these questions. (Soucheray, 4/20)
NBC News: Should People Wait Until The Fall For A Second Booster? CDC Panel Weighs In
"My sense is that omicron [and its subvariants] BA.2, 3 and 4 will be major players this fall," Moderna's chief medical officer, Paul Burton, said Tuesday during a meeting of the World Vaccine Congress in Washington, D.C. The company is working on a redesign of its vaccine to specifically target the omicron family of variants. (Edwards, 4/20)
In other news about vaccines and covid treatments —
Bangor Daily News: Nearly 1,000 Volunteers Were Key To Vaccinating Thousands At Northern Light’s Mass Clinics
Nearly 1,000 volunteers were a key part of the effort last year to set up and staff COVID-19 vaccination clinics across the 10-hospital Northern Light Health network. The health care system this week said 925 volunteers helped at the vaccination clinics that formed a cornerstone of the state’s early vaccination strategy last spring when demand for the shots was at its highest. Northern Light released the figure in conjunction with National Volunteer Week, which is this week. (O'Brien, 4/21)
KHN: Anti-Vaccine Ideology Gains Ground As Lawmakers Seek To Erode Rules For Kids’ Shots
Not long ago, Kansas showed strong bipartisan support for vaccines as a tool to support a robust public health system. But bills with language expanding religious exemptions for childhood vaccine requirements were passed by the state Senate in March and now face the House when the legislature reconvenes April 25. (West, 4/21)
Stat: Pfizer Faces Criticism For Arguing That IP For Covid-19 Pill Is A Human Right
Numerous advocacy groups and institutional shareholders are chiding Pfizer for arguing that its intellectual property is a human right and would be violated if the Dominican Republican government issues a compulsory license for its Covid-19 pill. Advocates say the company invoked human rights in a recent hearing in which it attempted to convince the Dominican government not to issue such a license for its pill, Paxlovid. A petition to issue a license was filed in December after the country was excluded from a licensing deal to make the medicine available in mostly poor countries. A decision could come by next week. (Silverman, 4/20)
