Boosters, masks and mandates: Biden's team sorts through options for containing Covid surge among unvaccinated Americans

The Biden administration is debating a series of steps to further contain the Covid-19 pandemic, which, after 18 months, is again surging in parts of the country where vaccination rates are low.

A senior administration health official said the government is "actively exploring" how to provide extra vaccine shots to vulnerable populations, who officials now increasingly expect will require boosters, as they await the US Food and Drug Administration's full approval of the three vaccines currently authorized for emergency use. The White House on Friday announced a purchase of hundreds of millions of additional Pfizer doses, in part to be prepared in case the booster shots are needed. Discussions are ongoing over whether to revisit mask guidelines, a decision officials say will be left to the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but that nonetheless comes loaded with political baggage after the celebratory lifting of mask mandates this spring. White House aides said they did not believe any new recommendations were imminent but acknowledged they have previously received little warning when the CDC updates its guidelines. According to sources familiar with internal discussions, the health agency is reconsidering its stance on mask orders.