FDA staff declines to take stance on Pfizer’s Covid booster shots, citing lack of verified data

The staff of the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday declined to take a stance on whether to back booster shots of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, saying U.S. regulators haven’t reviewed all the available yet.

“There are many potentially relevant studies, but FDA has not independently reviewed or verified the underlying data or their conclusions,” they wrote in a 23-page document published on the agency’s website. “Some of these studies, including data from the vaccination program in Israel, will be summarized during the September 17, 2021 VRBPAC meeting.”

The staff report is meant to brief the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which meets Friday to review Pfizer’s request to approve Covid booster doses for the general public. The documents published offer a glimpse of the agency’s view on third shots.

The Biden administration has said it wants to begin offering booster shots to the general public as early as next week, pending authorization from the FDA. The move is part of President Joe Biden’s broader plan to confront a higher number of Covid cases fueled by the fast-spreading delta variant.

Scientists and other health experts have repeatedly criticized the plan, saying data the federal health officials cited wasn’t compelling, characterizing the administration’s push for boosters as premature.

A group of scientists, including two senior FDA officials and the World Health Organization, published a paper Monday in the journal The Lancet that argued booster shots are not needed at this time for the general public. While Covid vaccine effectiveness against mild disease may wane over time, protection against severe disease appears to persist, the scientists said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.