FDA Expert Panel to Discuss Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Boosters

The FDA will hold an advisory committee meeting Sept. 17 to discuss the third booster for the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for people age 16 years and older.

The announcement comes not long after the Biden administration said it hoped to begin administering the shots mid-September. And the vaccine advisory panel meeting will be held just three days before the administration said it plans to begin administering shots to people in the general public who got their second shots eight months prior.

The administration’s announcement about beginning to give boosters on Sept. 20 reportedly rocked the FDA, which is also currently under huge pressure to approve the vaccine for children under age 12.

It’s far from clear that the government will be ready to begin giving approved booster shots to the public if the agency approval doesn’t come until Sept. 17.