White House rushes to booster doses as CDC advisers bide time

U.S. public-health advisers are moving slowly toward considering the nationwide plan for booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines to ward off the fast-spreading delta variant, even as the Biden administration seeks a Sept. 20 kickoff.

While the booster plan laid out earlier this month had targeted individuals who received their last shot at least eight months ago, President Joe Biden said Friday that Americans may get their added vaccinations even faster -- just five months after finishing their standard immunization. The White House quickly clarified its stance, saying that the plan hasn’t changed, but Biden’s interest in a rapid rollout is clear. In the meantime, however, the schedule for vaccine experts on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to consider the plan is slipping. Booster shots were supposed to be the main topic of discussion at an Aug. 24 meeting that was delayed to Monday. Now that postponed meeting will mainly be occupied by consideration of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s vaccine that got full regulatory approval last week.