The Booster Bulletin: Your Weekly Dose of Immunization News
We’re committed to sharing news and information from local and national media about COVID-19, available vaccines, and immunization-related topics. Each week we’ll continue to review clips from across the U.S., from various news outlets and platforms, and bring you ten timely and relevant links.
“16- And 17-Year-Olds Are Now Eligible for a Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Booster” CNN (December 9, 2021) – “The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use as a booster in people ages 16 and 17, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended it for this age group. It's the first Covid-19 vaccine booster authorized for 16- and 17-year-olds in the United States. Just as with adults, 16- and 17-year-olds are eligible to receive a booster dose six months after their second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. About 2.6 million US teens in this age group would be eligible for boosters already––a small addition to the 141 million adults already eligible for boosters.”
“Child Protection from Infections in Spotlight for Flu Awareness Week” Public News Service (December 9, 2021) – “It is National Influenza Vaccination Week, and one Washington doctor is spotlighting the importance of protecting children from the virus this season. Dr. Melissa Quisano, a family medicine specialist at Kaiser Permanente in Spokane, said the spread of flu goes up in winter as people gather for the holidays. ‘Unfortunately, the more we gather in enclosed spaces, the more we share our germs,’ Quisano explained. ‘We want to protect ourselves and protect our loved ones, so it's definitely important to get those vaccines before you're gathering with family or even larger crowds.’”
“Fix the global vaccine rollout or face even worse COVID variants, experts warn” NPR (December 9, 2021) – “The world has "lost the plot" on equitable vaccine access during the coronavirus pandemic and is falling far short of targets to vaccinate the global south, according to scathing assessments from experts as the omicron variant spreads to more countries. From the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization [WHO] and several other public health groups have argued the only way out of the pandemic is to vaccinate the entire world.”
“Protection against Omicron Coronavirus Variant Improves with Three Vaccine Doses, Pfizer Says” CNN (December 8, 2021) – “Preliminary lab studies show two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine may not provide sufficient protection against the Omicron coronavirus variant, but three doses are able to neutralize it, the companies said in a news release on Wednesday. Samples from people who had two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine saw, on average, a more than 25-fold reduction in neutralization ability against the Omicron variant than the earlier virus, ‘indicating that two doses of BNT162b2 may not be sufficient to protect against infection with the Omicron variant,’ the companies said.”
“We’re Getting Close to ‘Universal’ Vaccines. It Hasn’t Been Easy.” The New York Times Magazine (December 8, 2021) – “On Nov. 19, 2019, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, happened to be describing to me recent research that was on his mind. ‘A real hot topic’ at that moment, he said, was the development of a universal influenza vaccine. He meant a vaccine suitable for all ages that would be at least 75 percent effective for a year or more against Influenza A viruses—the type that causes pandemics but that also, along with Influenza B, annually infects as many as a billion people worldwide and kills somewhere between 290,000 to 650,000 of them.”
Watch: “Kids and Vaccines” The White House (December 7, 2021) – “Dr. Lee Savio Beers, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, answers questions about the COVID-19 vaccine for kids in a conversation with a few of America’s youngest eligible vaccine recipients.”
“New York City Announces First-In-The-Nation Vaccine Mandate for Private Companies” CBS New York (December 7, 2021) – “Mayor Bill de Blasio announced what he called a first-in-the-nation vaccine mandate for private companies Monday. He said the combination of the Omicron variant and holiday gatherings forced him to take ‘bold’ steps. He’s giving businesses just three weeks to make sure their workers are vaccinated.”
“MIX-And-Match J&J COVID Booster Raised Immune Response after Pfizer Vaccine, Study Finds” CNN (December 5, 2021) – “Using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as a booster for people initially immunized with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine produces a strong immune response and may do more to elicit protection against severe disease, researchers reported Sunday. Their small study of 65 volunteers who all initially got two doses of Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine showed that using the J&J Janssen vaccine as a booster produced a slower but more sustained antibody response against the original strain of the virus, as well as the Delta and Beta variants, they said.”
“Omicron Is Supercharging the COVID Vaccine Booster Debate” Nature (December 2, 2021) – “The evidence is in: booster jabs against COVID-19 do provide an extra layer of protection against the illness. But questions still swirl over how much they’ll help and how often they’ll be needed —and the discovery of the Omicron variant has supercharged the debate over their role…Now, hoping to stay ahead of the Omicron threat, public-health officials across North America and Europe are urging all adults to get a top-up dose of vaccine. Variant-specific boosters are also in the works, but doctors are urging people not to wait: immunizations with available shots today could help ward off a surge of Omicron infections.”
“Your Winter Wellness Routine Needs This One Important Thing” Shot of Prevention (December 2, 2021) – “Temperatures are dropping. Do you feel like you’re more likely to get sick in the winter months? While this may be true, it isn’t directly caused by cold temperatures. Winter weather forces many of us to spend more time inside, closer to one another in drier air. These conditions give viruses and germs more opportunities to spread and make us sick.”