WASHINGTON, Sept 23, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - The United States on Wednesday
authorized the use of boosters of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine for people aged
over 65, as well as adults at high risk of severe disease and those in high-
exposure jobs.

   The announcement means a significant part of the population -- amounting
to tens of millions of Americans -- are now eligible for a third shot six
months after their second.

   "Today's action demonstrates that science and the currently available data
continue to guide the FDA's decision-making for COVID-19 vaccines during this
pandemic," said Janet Woodcock, acting head of the Food and Drug
Administration, in a statement.

   The decision was expected and came after an independent expert panel
convened by the regulatory agency last week voted in favor of recommending
the move.

   The panel, however, rejected an initial plan by the White House to fully
approve Pfizer boosters to everyone aged 16 and over, in what amounted to a
rare rebuke of President Joe Biden's administration.

   The group of vaccinologists, infectious disease specialists and
epidemiologists concluded that the benefit-risk balance differed for younger
people, especially young males who are more susceptible to myocarditis.

   Pfizer Covid-19 boosters are currently being debated by a separate body of
experts convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
which may recommend further specifics about recipients.

   For example, if obesity is considered as putting a person "at high risk of
severe Covid," that definition would cover more than 42 percent of the US
population aged over 20.

   The CDC may also have to define which workplaces and other settings might
lead to "frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2."

   For its part, the FDA indicated this would cover "health care workers,
teachers and day care staff, grocery workers and those in homeless shelters
or prisons, among others."

   The FDA's emergency use authorization (EUA) applies to those aged 18 and
up for the high risk of severe disease and high-exposure categories. It also
only applies to Pfizer's vaccine. Recipients of Moderna and Johnson &
Johnson, the other US-authorized vaccines, will now await news for when they,
too, might become eligible for another shot.

   A number of studies have shown two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, or a single
shot of J&J, continue to confer high protection against severe outcomes --
but this is slightly reduced for the elderly.

   The World Health Organization has called for a moratorium on wealthy
countries giving out boosters, while many countries -- especially those in
Africa -- have barely begun their immunization campaigns.

   The United States argues, however, it is possible to both help middle- and
lower-income nations while also protecting its own vulnerable people.

   On Wednesday, President Biden announced the United States would buy 500
million more Pfizer doses for the world, bringing its total contribution of
the global supply to 1.1 billion.