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The U.S. just moved closer to offering booster shots of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson's Covid vaccines to millions of Americans. That story is below. Highly anticipated U.S. data on "mixing and matching" Covid shots posted online this week. Meg Tirrell has the details. Boosters are outpacing first doses in the U.S., Nate Rattner reports.
| | FDA panel unanimously recommends J&J, Moderna boosters | An influential FDA advisory committee on Friday unanimously recommended booster shots of J&J's Covid vaccine to people age 18 and older, at least two months after they've received their first shot. A day earlier, the same committee unanimously agreed to recommend Moderna booster shots to the elderly and other at-risk adults, in line with guidelines for Pfizer vaccines. The FDA is expected to make a final decision on both shots within days. Next week, CDC advisory group will decide who should get the extra J&J and Moderna shots. If it issues recommendations and the CDC signs off, booster shots could begin immediately.
-Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | | | | FDA advisers push for flexibility for boosters | In a perfect world, the FDA's advisers would have robust, well-controlled studies to inform their recommendations on who should get booster shots, when, and which ones they should get. Instead, we're in a pandemic and they have to go with what they have – which, in many cases, isn't what they'd like, and changes with each new study. That's the situation in which they found themselves Friday, discussing whether Americans should be able to switch brands for a booster dose, based on a 450-person trial that looked at antibody responses and safety of doing so. Many on the panel pushed for flexibility, with CDC's Dr. Amanda Cohn reminding them that, from a public health perspective, it would be helpful to be able to switch if necessary. The advisers then also discussed whether eligibility for boosters for Pfizer and Moderna should be expanded down to age 40 or 50. The FDA said it would take that all into account – and now has its work cut out for it.
-Meg Tirrell | | | | More Americans are getting Covid vaccine boosters than first doses | The U.S. is reporting an average of about 362,000 boosters administered per day over the past week, 57% higher than the 231,000 average daily first doses, according to the CDC. The rush for additional doses among fully vaccinated people highlights the divide between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins' Rupali Limaye. Because many of those getting third doses are the same people who were most eager to get shots earlier this year, boosters will give those people even stronger protection while the unvaccinated remain largely unprotected.
-Nate Rattner | | | | Alaska doctors forced to ration life-sustaining treatments | Alaska is in the thick of a surge of Covid cases fueled by the highly contagious delta variant, which devastated the continental U.S. over the summer. Hospitals are now struggling to treat non-Covid patients with a range of life-threatening conditions, including cancer, accident injuries and organ failure. To alleviate the burden on the state's health-care system, Alaskan officials on Oct. 2 activated "crisis standards of care" across 20 hospitals, a measure that gives them some legal protection if they have to choose who will get a bed or ventilator that may save a patient's life while they forgo treatment for others who are less likely to survive.
-Bob Towey | | | | Walgreens' Roz Brewer unveils strategy | I sat down with Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Roz Brewer ahead of her first investor day, to talk about her vision for transforming the company. The centerpiece of the strategy – doubling down on the company's stake in VillageMD, to turn the drugstores into a destination for primary care close to home. The $5.2 billion price tag on the deal sent Walgreens shares down 4% on the headline, but as Brewer and team articulated the new strategy, the stock saw a sharp reversal during their presentation and posted its best one-day gain of the year.
-Bertha Coombs | | | | Sydney to allow quarantine-free international travel for Australians | Fully vaccinated Australians arriving in Sydney from overseas will no longer have to quarantine starting Nov. 1. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the easing of entry restrictions at the border is meant only for Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families. "This is about Australian residents and citizens first," he said. People who fall under those categories would be allowed to leave and return to Sydney without needing to quarantine.
-Saheli Roy Choudhury | |
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