President Biden on Friday urged people who are not yet eligible for coronavirus booster shots to be patient, while suggesting eligibility could expand rapidly.
He said that his administration was “looking to the time when we’re going to be able to expand the booster shots, basically across the board,” and that boosters for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines were likely in the offing.
“So I would just say, it’d be better to wait your turn in line, wait your turn to get there,” Mr. Biden said.
He made these remarks hours after Dr. Rochelle P. Wilensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended booster doses for the Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccination for frontline workers. This recommendation was overruled by an agency advisory panel. Individuals must have also received a second dose from Pfizer at least six month ago. C.D.C. was pleased with her unusual move. policy with the Food and Drug Administration’s endorsements over her own agency’s advisers.
According to the C.D.C., as of Friday, more than 100 million of the fully vaccinated people in the United States received the Pfizer vaccine, while more than 82 million — or about 45 percent of the total — received Moderna and Johnson & Johnson doses.
F.D.A. scientific advisers C.D.C. and F.D.A. have been not asked to judge whether people who received the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines should receive any additional doses. Booster shots for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients have not been authorized by the F.D.A. The F.D.A. has not authorized booster shots for Moderna or Johnson vaccine recipients. Many Americans are still trying to get boosters.
C.D.C. advisers noted this week that recipients of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines might understandably feel resentful of being asked to wait if the evidence suggests they need boosters.
Dr. Sarah Long, a pediatrician and infectious diseases expert at Drexel University College of Medicine in Pennsylvania, said she didn’t understand how the authorities could “say to people 65 and older, ‘You’re at risk for severe disease and death, but only half of you can protect yourselves right now.’”
“It might be the right thing to do,” she said. “It just doesn’t sound like a good public health policy.”
Authorization for Moderna’s booster could arrive in days or weeks. The booster application for Moderna has been filed with the F.D.A. and requests a shot that contains half the amount of the first two shots. That detail has complicated the agency’s deliberations.
Understand Vaccine and Mask Mandates in the U.S.
- Vaccine rules.On Aug. 23, the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for people 16 and up, paving the way for an increase in mandates in both the public and private sectors. Private companies have been increasingly mandating vaccines for employees. Such mandates arelegally allowedand have been upheld in court challenges.
- Mask rules. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July recommended that all Americans, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in indoor public places within areas experiencing outbreaks, a reversal of the guidance it offered in May. Find out where the C.D.C. The C.D.C.’s guidance could apply in certain cases, while other states have adopted their own policies. Some states have become contentious about masks, with some leaders challenging state bans.
- University and college.Students at more than 400 colleges and universities have to be vaccinated for Covid-19. Most of the students are from states that voted in President Biden.
- Schools. Both California and New York City have introduced vaccine mandates for education staff. In August, a survey found that American parents of school-age children were opposed to mandatory vaccines for students. However, they are more supportive of mandated vaccinations for teachers, students, and staff who have not had their shots.
- Hospitals and medical centers. Many hospitals and major health systems are requiring employees to get a Covid-19 vaccine, citing rising caseloads fueled by the Delta variant and stubbornly low vaccination rates in their communities, even within their work force.
- New York City. Proof of vaccination is required of workers and customers for indoor dining, gyms, performances and other indoor situations, although enforcement does not begin until Sept. 13. Teachers and other education workers in the city’s vast school system will need to have at least one vaccine dose by Sept. 27, without the option of weekly testing. City hospital workers must also get a vaccine or be subjected to weekly testing. New York State employees are subject to similar rules.
- Federal level. The Pentagon announced that it would seek to make coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for the country’s 1.3 million active-duty troops “no later” than the middle of September. President Biden announced that all civilian federal employees would have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to regular testing, social distancing, mask requirements and restrictions on most travel.
F.D.A. has not yet received any application from Johnson & Johnson for a booster of its vaccine.
In mid-August, Mr. Biden announced that he would be launching Moderna and Pfizer boosters. However, there was criticism from the White House for rushing the regulatory process and internal discord within the Biden administration regarding the need for boosters.
Many independent scientists and regulators stressed that little research was available on who would benefit from extra shots over the course of weeks. The plan to provide Moderna boosters quickly was abandoned to allow the F.D.A. to take over. More time to study and collect data.
Also complicating the issue of boosters is that some experts support a mix-and-match strategy, that is, using a dose from a different maker than the individual’s initial doses. Federal regulators stated that there was no evidence for mixing Moderna vaccine shots with boosters from Pfizer or vice versa.