Day 563 Retrospective: Booster Shots

The New York Times reports that the Biden administration [sic] is recommending a booster shot of all three US vaccines after 8 months. At least they're waiting for the FDA to approve such a move, but it's unclear why a more relevant agency (the CDC, or at least the Surgeon General) is not doing the recommending. PlagueBlog would prefer medical advice on the matter as opposed to political advice, nor are we the only ones with doubts:

The regulatory path for additional shots is not entirely clear. Pfizer-BioNTech filed data to the F.D.A. on Monday that it said showed the safety and effectiveness of a booster shot. But the data was preliminary, from Phase 1 of a clinical trial. Moderna is on a similar track, exploring the safety and efficacy of both a half-dose and a full dose as a third shot.

The World Health Organization has called for a moratorium on booster shots until the end of September, saying available doses should be used to help countries that are far behind in vaccinations. But Israel is already offering third shots to those at least 50 years old.

Massachusetts cases were up a seventh of a percentage point on Monday. Our governor remains anti-mask, but is permitting cities and towns to gin up their own mask requirements.