The FDA approved a second booster dose last week (both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna). The CDC followed suit the next day by recommending the vaccine for 50+ folks (the 2nd booster could have always been administered off-label).
The second booster was also authorized (by FDA) for immunocompromised children older than 12 (Pfizer-BioNTech). Moderna was authorized for immunocompromised adults over 18.
Editorial Note: The FDA did not post or otherwise publicly disclose the data they used to make these changes (if there were data). Furthermore, the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices didn’t meet or vote on the CDC recommendations, nor were any data posted by CDC that support these decisions. Additionally, CDC didn’t publish an MMWR with any data or justification.
This is a bad way to do business. These decisions should have been data-driven and transparent, but they were not. Unforced errors by both CDC & FDA.
