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CDC Officially Expands COVID Boosters to All Adults

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Safeway pharmacist Shahrzad Khoobyari (L) administers a Pfizer COVID-19 booster vaccination into the arm of Norman Solomon (R) at a vaccination booster shot clinic on October 01, 2021 in San Rafael, California.  (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is recommending COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all adults.

The announcement came just hours after a vaccine advisory committee voted unanimously to expand Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine boosters to everyone 18 and older.

California had already joined several other states in recommending booster shots for all adults statewide, and for over a week Californians have been able to get a booster by self-determining their own risk. On Thursday, the state's My Turn site was formally updated to offer boosters to all who want them.

The CDC expert panel met Friday afternoon following the Food and Drug Administration's decision to authorize the boosters for all adults.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted in support of a change to COVID-19 vaccination policy that says people 50 and older should get a booster if they had a primary immunization with an mRNA vaccine (Moderna or Pfizer) at least six months before. The recommendation also applies to people 18 and older in long-term care settings.

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For people at least 18 and younger than 50, the panel supported a policy that recommends they receive a booster based on their individual risks and benefits.

An analysis from a CDC working group concluded that the balance of benefits and risks for a booster is clearest for older people. The group also noted that the latest data on myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart seen rarely after vaccination but most often in young men, is "reassuring to date."

For Californians, the biggest change resulting from the CDC's nationwide approval will be that pharmacy vaccine websites — which follow federal guidance, and have not been able to follow the state's expansion of boosters — will no longer ask patients seeking a booster if they are "eligible." Read more about finding a COVID booster shot near you.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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