Vaccinated youth and children would help herd immunity 0:43
(CNN) -
Weeks of deliberation will come to a head on Friday when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) meets to discuss covid-19 booster vaccines.
But the science of the vaccine's effectiveness will not be up for debate, one expert said.
There is widespread agreement that vaccines are primarily intended to reduce hospitalizations and deaths, data that shows they work well, said CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen.
"What not everyone would agree on is the second, I think, that the goal of vaccination is also to reduce the level of infection," Wen said.
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That is the issue that officials and health experts are now debating, while the average number of new daily cases has skyrocketed in the last two months.
President Joe Biden and many experts say there is good reason for a third booster dose.
And three reports released Wednesday support the argument that people may need a booster dose of Pfizer's covid-19 vaccine over time, suggesting that such boosters would be safe.
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The reports are part of a batch of data that will be discussed by FDA vaccine advisers, which is considering a request from Pfizer to approve a third booster dose for most people six months after receiving their first two doses of vaccine.
But there is no unanimity at this time.
On Monday, a group of international vaccine experts, including some from the FDA and the World Health Organization, wrote in The Lancet that current evidence does not appear to support the need for booster vaccines in the general public at this time.
There are also fears that a focus on reinforcements will distract from the mission of getting a greater proportion of the public to get their initial doses.
Vaccinated youth and children would help herd immunity 0:43
Only about 54% of the US population is fully vaccinated, which experts agree is the best form of protection against the virus.
There is no clear answer yet on whether vaccine boosters are necessary, said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, but there is "a mountain" of data that experts need to consider before making a decision. .
Friday's discussion will be public, he added, so that people can see the data involved in the decision.
Local health departments are planning to be ready to roll out booster doses next week if the FDA gives them the green light, but many still have questions, said Lori Tremmel Freeman, executive director of the National Association of County Health Officials and the City, to CNN on Wednesday.
"What is the interval for the boosters? Is it less than eight months at this time? What is the age limit? Will there be priority groupings?" Freeman said.
"We don't want to be caught off guard. We don't want to appear uncoordinated with reinforcements."
Numb at the tragedy
As the pandemic continues to take its toll - Covid-19 has killed more than 666,000 people and infected 41.5 million in the U.S. since January 2020 - the public is becoming numb to the tragedy, he said. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner, on Wednesday.
"We are somewhat complacent with an excessive amount of deaths and illnesses," he said during an appearance at the SALT hedge fund conference in Manhattan.
The United States marked another grim milestone on Wednesday: 1 in 500 Americans died of COVID-19.
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It's a number that can be difficult to process, Wen said.
"Imagine if 1 in 500 Americans had died in a war due to a foreign adversary in the last year and a half. How would we be processing that information now? What would we be doing differently?" He asked.
"Wouldn't we be doing everything we can to end the war, end the suffering and the deaths?
"That we don't do all we can with vaccines and masks in the meantime is really inconceivable."
The growing number of cases among young people is also alarming to experts.
In the first nine months of 2021, COVID-19 infections among children and adolescents in the Americas (including the US and Canada) reached more than 1.9 million, said Dr. Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization.
That's more than 400,000 more than last year, before COVID-19 vaccines were available to young people over the age of 12.
In the US, cases are likely to increase now that schools have reopened in the Northeast, Gottlieb said.
"That is going to increase," Gottlieb said, pointing to school outbreaks in other regions affected by the delta variant.
"Schools will also become sources of spread in the Northeast."
However, Gottlieb, who sits on Pfizer's board of directors, does not expect the Northeast to be as affected as the South, mainly due to previous infections and high vaccination rates.
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Most Americans support covid-19 restrictions
Other strategies officials have promoted to increase protection against the virus include vaccine mandates and mask requirements.
Last week, Biden announced a plan to deal with the pandemic, which included forcing companies with more than 100 employees to require that their workforce be vaccinated or tested regularly.
Many states and workplaces had already introduced similar measures.
Los Angeles is poised to expand vaccination requirements with the implementation of a new health order that will require vaccination verification for indoor bars, warehouses and nightclubs, and recommend the same for indoor restaurants, the director announced Wednesday. County Public Health Officer, Barbara Ferrer.
There is support for Covid-19 vaccination requirements, but only in certain settings, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center.
Approximately 61% of adults say proof of vaccination must be required to travel by air, 57% say it must be required to attend public universities, and 56% say it must be required to attend sporting events.
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When it comes to restaurants, Americans are divided, with 50% saying testing should be required for people to eat indoors.
For stores and businesses, 54% oppose the vaccination requirement.
And most Americans believe that the public health benefits of restrictions due to COVID-19 are worth the economic and lifestyle costs, according to the report.
CNN's Lauren Mascarenhas, Virginia Langmaid, Jacqueline Howard, Matt Egan, and Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.
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