Feds may expand 2nd boosters to all adults as anxiety surges over BA.5 wave

Federal officials are on edge due to the rapid rise of omicron subvariant BA.5. In a flurry of activity late Monday and early Tuesday, officials doubled down on swine flu measures, renewed calls for vigilance, and are considering expanding eligibility of second boosters to all adults.

Sixty five percent of cases in the US are estimated to be related to BA.5 according to a White House response plan. Efforts are being made to prevent another wave of infections like the one in January. There is renewed encouragement to test, treat, mask, and improve indoor air quality as part of the plan.

US COVID-19 cases are currently at a high level of around 117,000 new cases per day, but that's likely a significant underestimate given that many Americans don't report their cases. Over the past two weeks, intensive care admissions have increased by 21 percent and hospitalizations have increased by 17 percent. Since the end of May, the daily average of hospitalizations has more than doubled.

According to a map from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most of the US has high levels of the disease. The agency recommends that people wear masks in public indoor settings in around 21 percent of the country.

The current vaccines have been shown to be very effective at preventing disease. Only 67 percent of Americans have been fully immunized against the swine flu. Only 48 percent of the vaccine recipients have gotten a booster. Roughly 32% of Americans have had one booster, which is available to everyone over the age of five. People over the age of 50 are eligible for a second booster. Almost 20 million people have gotten the second booster. About a quarter of people over the age of 50 are fully vaccine and boosted.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that the Biden administration may expand eligibility of second boosters to include all adults. The report said that Jha and Fauci support the idea of expanding second boosters to all adults.

The CDC and the FDA have the ability to expand eligibility, according to Fauci and Jha. The regulatory sign-off on the expansion is expected to be done within the next two weeks, according to the Washington Post. The summer booster expansion could make it difficult for the next- generation boosters to be rolled out this fall.

Boost now and later

The FDA and the administration are anticipating the introduction of next- generation, bivalent boosters this fall that will target both the ancestral strain and the BA.4/5 omicron subvariants. The roll out is expected to start around October or November. Booster intervals have ranged from four to six months before.

If you get a booster now or in two weeks, you won't have to get a bivalent one this fall. The time frame and anticipated interval are what they think about.

Walensky said that it had been four, five months since the last boost. We expect that to be the same. Many people who are high risk are waiting until October/November to get their boost, which is not a good plan. We want to tell you to get your boost. The data will show you will be eligible for a boost in the fall. We will keep evaluating those data.

There is no data on the effectiveness of a second booster in people younger than 50. It's not clear if a fourth dose with the current vaccines could skew immune responses to future variant-targeting boosters. People who are already eligible for second boosters don't worry about this. A majority of Americans have been exposed to variations.

The idea of expanding second booster access has been embraced by many experts. The dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine is Peter Hotez.

He told the Post that the benefits have already been seen. It just takes longer to reveal itself, and eventually what is true for older people will be true for younger people.