DETROIT – The CDC’s vaccine advisory panel held a public meeting on Monday and discussed the recent full FDA approval of Comirnaty, Pfizer’s COVID vaccine.
Many had expected the group of experts to tackle the issue of booster shots for all Americans, but that was just a small part of the discussion.
Read: Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine ‘Comirnaty’ receives full approval from FDA
There have been more than 600,000 deaths in the United States from COVID-19. The unvaccinated are being hospitalized at a rate 16 times higher than the vaccinated.
“More than 1,000 individuals are dying each day from COVID-19 in the United States. And with safe and effective vaccines readily available in the U.S. at this point in the pandemic, death from COVID-19 is largely vaccine-preventable,” ACIP Work Group Chair Dr. Matthew F. Daley said.
The group spent significant time discussing the risk of heart inflammation following the mRNA vaccines. Just 45 minutes of the six-and-a-half-hour meeting was set aside to discuss booster shoots. The committee chair said another special meeting will take place soon.
The Biden administration has announced plans to begin rolling out booster shots on Sept. 20. It is dependent on the approval of the FDA, CDC, and the advisory panel.
Read: Complete Michigan COVID coverage