FDA panel overwhelmingly rejects approval of Pfizer vaccine booster shots for people 16 and older


A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has voted against approving booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for those 16 and older, just days before a Biden administration plan to administer additional doses to all Americans was set to begin.
An independent panel advising the FDA met on Friday to consider whether to endorse a third dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for Americans 16 years and older. The committee voted 16 to 2 against doing so, The New York Times reports. The panel did, however, recommend booster doses for those 65 and older and at high risk for severe COVID-19, according to CNN.
Last month, the Biden administration announced a plan to begin offering COVID-19 booster shots to all Americans starting on Sept. 20, pending FDA and CDC approval. But it was later reported that the administration might have to scale this plan back, as during a meeting with the White House, top health officials "warned that more time may be needed before enough data is in to recommend boosters for all adults," CNN wrote.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
During the Friday meeting of the FDA advisory panel, committee member Dr. Michael G. Kurilla said that "it's unclear that everyone needs to be boosted, other than a subset of the population that clearly would be at high risk for serious disease," per the Times.
The Biden administration previously faced criticism for announcing its planned timeline to administer booster shots before they had been approved for all Americans.
"What I do think was backwards and not helpful was that the White House made an announcement with a certain date before really all the data had come in," former FDA Chief Scientist Jesse Goodman told CNN, "before [the] FDA had a chance to review it, and before there was this public discussion that we're now going to have."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Elon Musk retires from politics | May 29 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include SpaceX, One Big Beautiful Bill, couples therapy for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and a cheaper U.S. penny made in China.
-
Things in Nature Merely Grow: memoir of 'harsh beauty' after loss
The Week Recommends Chinese-American novelist Yiyun Li's 'devastating' memoir explores the deaths of her two sons
-
Sirens: entertaining satire on the lives of the ultra-wealthy stars Julianne Moore
The Week Recommends This 'blackly comic affair' unfurls at a 'breakneck speed'
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kids
Speed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sick
speed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last year
speed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive order
speed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr.: A new plan for sabotaging vaccines
Feature The Health Secretary announced changes to vaccine testing and asks Americans to 'do your own research'
-
Unraveling autism: RFK Jr.'s vow to find a root cause
Feature RFK Jr. has vowed to find the root cause of the 'autism epidemic' in months. Scientists have doubts.
-
The sneaking rise of whooping cough
Under the Radar The measles outbreak isn't the only one to worry about
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measles
Speed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths