Another COVID shot recommended for adults 65 and up

A federal immunization committee on Wednesday voted in favor of recommending an additional COVID-19 vaccine dose for seniors aged 65 and up.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) met Wednesday to discuss numerous agenda items including vaccine data and recommendations for COVID-19; tetanus and diphtheria; flu; polio; and chikungunya.

ACIP members voted 11-1 in favor of recommending an additional dose of the 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccines for those 65 and older.

Current CDC guidance recommends an additional COVID-19 vaccine dose for people who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, with people in this group having the option of getting one more dose two months after their initial shot.

According to the most recent CDC estimates, about 23 percent of adults are believed to have gotten the updated, monovalent COVID-19 vaccines. Among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries 65 and older, this figures stays the same at 23 percent, though the most recent update from the CDC for this demographic is from November.

COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death, but their effectiveness has been observed to wane over time, just as the protection from natural infection does. Among older adults, the immune response triggered by vaccines has consistently been observed to be weaker.

In a statement to The Hill, vaccine makers Pfizer and Novavax welcomed the ACIP’s vote.

“Pfizer supports the CDC’s adoption of ACIP’s recommendation that eligible adults 65 years of age and older should receive an additional dose of a 2023-2024 formula COVID-19 vaccine,” Pfizer said.

“We believe this will help offer additional protection against COVID-19 for this age group. We look forward to having ongoing discussions with regulatory bodies about the potential need of updating COVID-19 vaccines for this upcoming 2024-2025 season.”

“Today’s recommendation acknowledges the need to protect vulnerable older adults from COVID-19 this spring with an additional dose of XBB.1.5 vaccine,” Novavax said in a statement.

“Data from our clinical trials indicate Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine maintains a favorable side effect profile while inducing neutralizing antibody responses to JN.1, which is currently causing the majority of symptomatic illness, and also JN.4 which is a further future-drift strain.”

Moderna did not immediately respond when reached for comment.