Month: September 2021

Enlarge / The Food and Drug Administration headquarters in White Oak, Maryland. (credit: Getty | Congressional Quarterly)

The US Food and Drug Administration late Wednesday authorized booster doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people ages 65 and up. Also eligible for boosters will be those ages 18 to 64 who are at high risk of severe COVID-19 or at high risk from frequent occupational or institutional exposures to SARS-CoV-2, such as healthcare workers and teachers.

The single booster dose should only be given at least six months after the two initial doses. The approval comes an amendment to an Emergency Use Authorization.

The FDA's authorization largely follows the recommendations from a committee of independent experts that advises the agency, known as the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee or VRBPAC. The committee met all day Friday to review and deliberate over the data surrounding boosters. The meeting concluded with an 18-0 vote in favor of recommending boosters for people over 65 and high-risk groups. But, prior to that, the committee voted 16-2 against recommending boosters for everyone ages 16 and up, rejecting the Biden administration's plans to rollout additional doses to nearly all vaccinated people.

Enlarge / A coronavirus preparedness tent setup outside a hospital emergency room entrance at Gritman Medical Center in the northern Idaho city of Moscow in March 2020. (credit: Getty | Education Images)

Health officials in Idaho are reporting dire circumstances as hospitals around the state continue to crumble under the delta-fueled surge of COVID-19 cases.

"We continue to set record highs," Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said in a press briefing Tuesday. With the latest data through September 18, the state saw a new record high of 686 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a record high of 180 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, and a record high of 112 COVID-19 patients on ventilators. The number of ventilated COVID-19 patients is nearly double what was seen in the last surge of COVID-19 cases in December.

"These numbers continue to increase, and we expect them to continue to increase," Jeppesen added.

Enlarge / A coronavirus preparedness tent setup outside a hospital emergency room entrance at Gritman Medical Center in the northern Idaho city of Moscow in March 2020. (credit: Getty | Education Images)

Health officials in Idaho are reporting dire circumstances as hospitals around the state continue to crumble under the delta-fueled surge of COVID-19 cases.

"We continue to set record highs," Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said in a press briefing Tuesday. With the latest data through September 18, the state saw a new record high of 686 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a record high of 180 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, and a record high of 112 COVID-19 patients on ventilators. The number of ventilated COVID-19 patients is nearly double what was seen in the last surge of COVID-19 cases in December.

"These numbers continue to increase, and we expect them to continue to increase," Jeppesen added.

Enlarge / A coronavirus preparedness tent setup outside a hospital emergency room entrance at Gritman Medical Center in the northern Idaho city of Moscow in March 2020. (credit: Getty | Education Images)

Health officials in Idaho are reporting dire circumstances as hospitals around the state continue to crumble under the delta-fueled surge of COVID-19 cases.

"We continue to set record highs," Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said in a press briefing Tuesday. With the latest data through September 18, the state saw a new record high of 686 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, a record high of 180 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, and a record high of 112 COVID-19 patients on ventilators. The number of ventilated COVID-19 patients is nearly double what was seen in the last surge of COVID-19 cases in December.

"These numbers continue to increase, and we expect them to continue to increase," Jeppesen added.