#Pfizer

A boost in protection is needed to offset the persistent disparities in the toll of COVID between racial and ethnic groups.

People at lower risk may not need an updated booster, but without a CDC recommendation, insurance companies wouldn’t have to cover it.

People ages 6 months and older are eligible for new Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech boosters targeting XBB.1.5 omicron variant.

People 65 and older and immunocompromised people can get a second bivalent booster; most unvaccinated people now need only one initial shot.

Older people, immunocompromised people and those with underlying health conditions can benefit most from additional shots.

Updated boosters could go to the “worried well” who have good insurance rather than to those at highest risk.

An NIH-sponsored study assessed boosters for adults fully vaccinated with any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccine effectiveness for children ages 5 to 11 was 91%, and serious side effects are rare.

Third dose OK’d for people over 65, those at risk for severe COVID-19 and those at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

Natural immunity and vaccine responses may be weaker in people with immune suppression, so they should get their second dose promptly.

A slow vaccine rollout and the emergence of new coronavirus mutations threaten progress in reducing new cases and death.

The technology used in COVID-19 vaccines may also be used to prevent other viral infections and to treat cancer and multiple sclerosis.

Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine is 95% effective for preventing symptomatic illness.

The front-runner coronavirus vaccine appears to protect people from symptomatic disease.

Four vaccine candidates produced antibody and T-cell immune responses in the first stages of human clinical trials.

Over 60 drugmakers raised prices an average of 5.8% on hundreds of drugs.