CDC advisers recommend who can get booster shots of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine

A panel of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's outside vaccine experts voted Thursday to allow use of booster shots for many adults first vaccinated with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, including those 65 and over and others at higher risk of severe COVID-19, clearing one of the last regulatory hurdles for third doses to be given this week. 

Booster shots of the vaccine, which goes by the brand name Comirnaty, could be available by the end of the day, after CDC Director Rochelle Walensky formally adopts the group's recommendations. The guidance passed by a majority vote on Thursday afternoon following a two-day meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. 

"I appreciate your meticulous review of the data available from CDC's own cohort studies, from FDA's review of Pfizer's studies, and from public health partners and institutions around the world," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told the group as it began its meeting Thursday afternoon.