People 65 and older should get another dose of the latest round of COVID-19 vaccines, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The recommendation “allows older adults to receive an additional dose of this season’s COVID-19 vaccine to provide added protection,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, head of the CDC, said in a recent statement.
“Most COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations last year were among people 65 years and older. An additional vaccine dose can provide added protection that may have decreased over time for those at highest risk,” she added.
Since the vaccines were first rolled out in late 2020, the CDC has repeatedly advised Americans to get doses after initially saying only one or two were needed.
The latest round of vaccines, which target the XBB.1.5. virus subvariant, were cleared and recommended for people aged 5 and up in the fall of 2023 after previous versions failed to convey lasting protection. The XBB.1.5. strain is no longer present in the United States, CDC sequencing shows.
Some experts have warned against relying on such observational data, noting that the data do not prove vaccines confer protection.
The CDC did not provide any research on the safety of giving seniors two shots within one year.
Panel Advice
The CDC’s guidance came after its advisory panel advised it in an 11–1 vote to recommend another dose for seniors.The advisory panel’s decision came after a lengthy discussion about whether to say older people “may” get the shots or if they “should” do so.
“Most people are coming in either wanting the vaccine or not,” said Dr. Jamie Loehr, a committee member and family doctor in Ithaca, New York. “I am trying to make it easier for providers to say, ‘Yes, we recommend this.’”
Just 22 percent of adults and 13 percent of children have received one of the new shots, according to CDC data. The vaccination rate is higher for adults 65 and older, at nearly 42 percent.
A new round of vaccines is expected to be cleared later in 2024. U.S. officials have shifted the COVID-19 vaccine program to the model used for influenza. The model typically involves updating the vaccines once a year.
Dr. David Canaday, a Case Western Reserve University infectious diseases expert who studies COVID-19 in older people, noted that uptake has gone down for each new COVID-19 vaccine that has been cleared and recommended.
“People are tired of getting all these shots all the time,” said Dr. Canaday, who does not serve on the advisory committee. “We have to be careful about over-recommending the vaccine.”
