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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday recommended reformulated Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 boosters that target the Omicron strain for people age 12 and up.
Why it matters: The recommendation came after an outside panel of vaccine advisors earlier Thursday endorsed the boosters in a 13-1 vote and marked the last regulatory hurdle before the updated shots can go into Americans’ arms.
Driving the news: The CDC recommended the new Pfizer-BioNTech booster for individuals 12 years and the Moderna vaccine for individuals 18 and up.
Between the lines: During the advisory panel's discussion, members expressed concern about a lack of real-world data on the reformulated shots while saying they wanted to get the vaccines out sooner rather than later.
What we know: The vaccines are considered safe, and COVID-19 vaccines and boosters provide high levels of protection against severe disease and the reformulated vaccines will expand individuals' immune response, CDC officials said during the meeting.
What we don't know: We don't know the incremental increase in vaccine effectiveness or the duration of protection, officials said.
Zoom out: More than 12.6 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been given worldwide since late 2020, per a Bloomberg tracker, including 609 million in the U.S.
