A third dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a booster for elderly patients and those with existing health conditions and other severe illnesses, NBC News reports.
Boosters are recommended to be administered at least six months after the patient received the second dose of the two-shot Pfizer vaccine regimen. An advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is holding a two-day meeting during which they will decide what conditions qualifies for the recommended third dose.
Known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the CDC panel will provide final approval for the booster shot. An FDA panel last week declined to approve a general rule for booster shots for all people currently qualified for vaccines, those 12 years old and older because of a lack of clinical data, but it did approve Pfizer boosters for those 65 and older.