60 Mn Americans Now Eligible For Pfizer Booster Shots, Biden Says

Washington, Sept 24 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Sep, 2021 ) :Some 60 million people in the United States are now eligible for a Pfizer booster shot against Covid-19, President Joe Biden said on Friday as a regulatory marathon laying bare divisions within the scientific community on the issue came to a close.

In the end, US health authorities have recommended boosters for three categories of people: those 65 and older, those 18-64 with an underlying medical condition such as diabetes or obesity, and those who are especially exposed to the virus because of their work or where they live.

The last, at-risk group is large and includes teachers, grocery store employees, health care workers, prisoners and people living in homeless shelters.

A total of 20 million people got their second Pfizer shot long enough ago -- at least six months -- to qualify now for a booster, Biden said.

"Go get the booster," he said in a remarks at the White House.

"I'll be getting my booster shot," the 78-year-old president added, "as soon as I can." Biden said people who have received Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccinations could get booster shots once studies have been completed and he expected that all Americans would be eligible "in the near term." Some immunocompromised people in the United States have been eligible to receive a third dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine since early August.

Biden had wanted to launch a mass campaign of Pfizer and Moderna booster shots this week for all Americans.

But the move was put on hold by the US health authorities. Moderna did not submit the necessary data in time and experts were divided about what to do regarding Pfizer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday overruled its own panel of health experts to back Pfizer booster shots for individuals at high risk of exposure because of their jobs.