CDC releases recommendations for COVID-19 vaccine boosters

The CDC endorsed vaccine recommendations from agency advisors, but went further, also recommending a third dose of the Pfizer shot for workers in high-risk settings and those in institutional settings such as nursing homes. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices had previously excluded health care workers and other frontline workers whose jobs put them at risk. 

Here’s the final CDC recommendation: 

• The CDC recommends that people 65 years and older and residents in long-term care settings should get a booster, and so should people 50 to 64 years old who have an underlying medical condition, such as cancer and diseases that affect the immune system. 
• In addition to that, those 18 to 49 with underlying medical conditions, and those 18 to 64 who are at an increased risk because of their work, “may” get a shot.

The booster is to be given at least six months after people get their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.