USA: booster dose would be only for certain groups 1:10
(CNN) -
People seeking a booster for their covid-19 vaccines have exceeded the number of people getting vaccinated for the first time, and additional doses will soon be available to a larger proportion of the United States.
According to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1.3 times more booster doses are given each day than first doses of the covid-19 vaccine.
And the number could rise as the CDC's vaccine advisory committee prepares to meet Thursday to discuss the mixing and matching of boosters, as well as booster doses for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
As of this week, the use of the Pfizer vaccine as a booster has only been authorized for certain high-risk groups who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine at least six months ago.
But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday authorized booster doses of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines and said any of the three licensed vaccines could be used as a booster in a "combination" for eligible individuals.
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Thursday's meeting will decide which groups the CDC recommends the boosters for.
Doses can usually be administered once the CDC director approves the recommendation.
The FDA could also soon lower the age range in its emergency use authorizations for booster vaccines for Covid-19 vaccines once more safety data arrives, authorities told reporters Wednesday.
"We want to make sure that if we implement boosters across all age ranges, we are really achieving that the benefits outweigh any risks," said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the vaccine arm of the FDA.
Health experts have said that vaccination is the key to controlling the spread of COVID-19, and many are still encouraging more Americans to get their first doses of the vaccine.
But evidence suggests that immunity from full vaccination may be lowered, prompting the need to authorize booster doses of the coronavirus vaccine, Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said Wednesday.
"Currently available data to date suggest decreased immunity in some populations of fully vaccinated people," Woodcock told reporters during a conference call.
"And the availability of these authorized boosters is important for continued protection against covid-19 disease," he added.
"The actions we have taken ... help address this waning immunity."
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Vaccination of children will play an "important role" in controlling the pandemic
Young children are not yet eligible for even their first doses, but experts say their protection will be key to controlling the pandemic.
Currently, only teens up to 12 years old are eligible for vaccines, but data has been submitted to the FDA for doses for children ages 5 to 11.
Approximately 28 million children ages 5 to 11 could soon be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine if the FDA authorizes the vaccines for this age group and if the CDC recommends it.
Pfizer requests approval of its vaccine for children under 11 years old 0:44
Vaccinating the majority of children against COVID-19 "will play an important role" in slowing the spread of the disease and bringing the nation closer to herd immunity, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday.
"In the era of [the variant] delta, children get infected as easily as adults. And they transmit the infection as easily as adults. We may not appreciate that, because about 50% of infections in children are asymptomatic, "Fauci said at a White House covid-19 briefing.
"If we can vaccinate the overwhelming majority of those 28 million children, I think that would play an important role in slowing the spread of infection in the community," said Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"That is one of the reasons we want to do the best we can to vaccinate those 5 to 11 year olds."
And when they do roll out, the US Surgeon General said he wants vaccines to be available to children as soon as possible.
"That preparation takes planning, it takes time, and that's why we've been working so hard to get some things done over the past few weeks or months," Dr. Vivek Murthy said on NBC's Today.
The pandemic plummeted attendance rates for homeless students
Although children have not had the highest rates of infection, they have faced many of the impacts of the pandemic.
And for homeless children, there have been even more barriers.
Attendance rates for homeless students in New York City public schools have dropped significantly amid the pandemic, according to a study published this week by Advocates for Children of New York.
The study, which used attendance data from the New York City Department of Education (DOE), documented that the average attendance rate for students in shelters for the first two weeks of the winter semester was just 73%.
The annual attendance rate for students in shelters is 78.5%, according to the DOE.
There are especially high rates of absenteeism in high schools, according to the study.
Tenth graders "missed more than one in three school days in the winter and spring of 2021, while ninth, eleventh and twelfth graders in shelters were absent more than 25% of the time," according to the advocacy group. .
The study shows that even before the pandemic, the average attendance rate for New York City students living in shelters during the 2019-20 school year was just 83.2%, compared to 92.2. % of students permanently housed.
Covid-19 only added new barriers.
"High absenteeism rates in the winter and spring of 2021 point to a particular need for support for students living in shelters as schools reopen this year," the study says.
The nonprofit organization recommended that the DOE use federal covid-19 aid funds to hire 150 DOE community coordinators in shelters as a start to "reform the educational support system in shelters."
Community coordinators are often responsible for providing support and resources to help students get to school.
"If we want to break the cycle of homeless families, the city must address barriers to student attendance in shelters," said Jennifer Pringle, project director for Advocates for Children's Learners in Temporary Housing.
"Fortunately, the DOE is in a position to address barriers to student attendance at shelters with the tens of millions of dollars in the United States Federal Rescue Plan Act: Homeless Funding is on the verge of to receive ".
According to the New York City DOE, it is in the process of planning to use federal money to expand staffing.
Currently, there are 324 DOE staff members in direct contact with homeless students and their families on a daily basis, according to the department.
- CNN's Deidre McPhillips, Maggie Fox, John Bonifield, Jacqueline Howard, Naomi Thomas, and Maya Brown contributed to this report.
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