An FDA panel has backed limited use of COVID-19 vaccine boosters

Hello,

Welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer, and today in healthcare news:

• An expert panel on Friday recommended COVID-19 booster shots for older adults and those who are at higher risk of severe disease;
• How 2 doctors whipped up false hope that ivermectin is a 'miracle cure' for COVID-19;
• A CDC study found Moderna's vaccine protected the best against hospitalization.

If you're new to this newsletter, sign up here. Comments, tips? Email me at lramsey@insider.com or tweet @lydiaramsey125. Let's get to it...

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While we're waiting for the official word on whether the FDA will authorize Pfizer's booster shots, the pharma giant said Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and likely to work in younger children.

Pfizer is now planning to ask for permission to use it in kids as young as 5.

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COVID vaccine

Reuters

The FDA's expert panel backs COVID-19 booster shots for adults 65 and older and those at highest risk of severe disease

• An expert panel recommended that the FDA authorize booster shots for older and vulnerable adults.
• The doctors and health experts who advise the FDA say data suggests younger people are still well protected.
• The panel voted down a proposal to make boosters available to everyone 16 and older.

Check it out>>

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Getty Images; Marianne Ayala/Insider

2 fringe doctors created the myth that ivermectin is a 'miracle cure' for COVID-19 - whipping up false hope that could have deadly consequences

• Ivermectin is not a miracle cure for COVID-19, and there's no reason to think it could or should ever be treated as such.
• Two men want you to think that the antiparasitic medication ivermectin could be all we need to treat, or even prevent, any COVID-19 case.
• The truth of this pandemic is that there is no single, surefire treatment for COVID-19 patients.

Here's the full story>>

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Olivia Parsons, 22, a neuroscience major at the University of Colorado Boulder, left, gets her first dose of the Moderna vaccine from Dr. Laird Wolfe.

Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado

Moderna's vaccine offers better protection against COVID-19 hospitalization than Pfizer or J&J, new CDC study finds

• Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine seems to protect better against hospitalization than other US-authorized shots.
• Moderna's shot lowered the risk of hospitalization by 93%, a new CDC report found.
• Pfizer's shot lowered that risk by 88%, whereas Johnson & Johnson's shot lowered it by 71%.

Find out more>>

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More stories we're reading:

• What to do if your child is exposed to COVID-19 at school, from quarantine etiquette to testing (Insider)
• The CDC is spending $2.1 billion to control infections in hospitals (Bloomberg)
• Scientists are getting closer to classifying long COVID as an autoimmune disease (Insider)
• Intermountain Healthcare is acquiring Broomfield, Colorado-based SCL Health (Axios)

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- Lydia

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