For People Who Got The J&J Vaccine, Some Doctors Are Advising Boosters ASAP

Last week, a panel of scientists and doctors met to discuss the Pfizer booster vaccine. Specifically, the goal was to advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about who needs a third shot.

The agency ultimately recommended anyone age 65 and over should get one as well as people who live in long-term care facilities or people ages 50 to 64, who have underlying health conditions.

But several panelists felt there was a more urgent matter at hand than Pfizer boosters.

"To me, the biggest policy question out there is the Johnson & Johnson [booster]," Dr. Helen Keipp Talbot at Vanderbilt University, who's a member of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, told the panel. "I worry we're getting distracted by the question of boosters of Pfizer when we have bigger and more important things to do in the pandemic."