Americans will be able to receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine as early as Wednesday after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisers endorsed the shot for everyone older than 6 months.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 13-1. Once CDC Director Mandy Cohen signs off on the recommendation, the shots will be available to Americans who want them.
The new shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are a single dose for people 5 years and older, and multiple smaller doses for children ages 6 months to 4 years old; two doses of Moderna or three doses of Pfizer-BioNTech.
An application for an updated vaccine from Novavax, the only non-mRNA vaccine, is still pending with the Food and Drug Administration.
Last year’s bivalent booster, which contained a strain of the omicron variant and a strain of the original variant, is no longer recommended and doesn’t offer protection against the currently circulating strains.
The CDC’s advisory group was divided but ultimately endorsed the idea of giving shots to everyone rather than a more targeted risk-based recommendation.
Some argued that a more nuanced recommendation would ensure the people most at risk would get vaccinated because a COVID-weary public might ignore a universal recommendation.
But others said a universal recommendation would ensure better equity.
Advisers noted even though the vast majority of the U.S. population has an underlying condition that would qualify under a risk-based recommendation, it would still be limiting and wouldn’t allow access to COVID-19 vaccines for all that wanted them.
With the recommendation, private and government-sponsored insurance should make the vaccines free for most consumers. The Biden administration is no longer purchasing the shots at a discounted price, because the public health emergency that allowed that to occur ended in May.
There could be barriers for the estimated 25 million to 30 million people without insurance. Without discounts, Pfizer said its shot will cost $120 per dose, Moderna said it will charge $129 per dose, and Novavax will charge $130.
Uninsured or underinsured Americans will have access to free shots as part of the Biden administration’s “Bridge to Access” program, which will keep a limited supply of vaccines and therapeutics on hand to distribute free through state and local health departments, as well as pharmacies. The program is meant to be temporary and will expire in December 2024.
The vaccines will be donated by manufacturers to pharmacies, and administration costs will be covered by the CDC. The Department of Health and Human Services said vaccines will be available under the program as early as this week, rather than October as was initially forecast.
The updated COVID-19 shots will hit the market just as the U.S. approaches the fall and winter respiratory virus season. They arrive along with new treatments to protect infants and older adults from respiratory syncytial virus.
