FDA backs Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots. Should Canada do the same?

The FDA has recommended that some vulnerable Americans get booster shots of COVID-19 vaccine. Should Canada follow suit?

The U.S. FDA has authorized booster shots of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for certain high-risk groups, and experts say Canada should consider doing the same.

On Wednesday, the FDA authorized booster shots for people aged 65 and older and people aged 18-64 who are at high risk of severe COVID-19. The FDA also said that people aged 18-64 whose institutional or occupational exposure puts them at risk of developing severe COVID-19 — which would include people who live in correctional facilities, teachers or health-care workers — could also receive a third dose.

The proposal still has to get over one last hurdle: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sets final U.S. policy on who qualifies for the extra shot. The CDC’s advisers are set to vote Thursday on how many of the roughly 26 million Americans who had their last Pfizer shot at least six months ago should get a third dose.

People who have occupational exposure to COVID-19 could include a lot of different groups, said Dr. Ellen Eaton, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“I also want to remind everyone that those who are high risk for severe infection, that encompasses a lot of Americans,” she said. “A lot of Americans are not only living over 65, but have obesity, diabetes and other chronic conditions that we know are going to put them at higher risk of severe disease.”

Data suggests that there may be waning durability for these people after six months, she said, so the FDA is now encouraging doctors to consider boosters for these people.

“I think those recommendations are very reasonable,” said Alyson Kelvin, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization – International Vaccine Centre at the University of Saskatchewan.

These groups are “highly vulnerable” when it comes to either producing a strong immune response, or fading longevity of their vaccine, she said. “So it makes sense that these groups would be put forth for a booster. It might not make sense for the general public, though, healthy adults and adolescents, to be put forth for boosters.”