The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory group, the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), announced Wednesday that people over the age of 65 should get a second 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine six months after their first one. The director of the CDC endorsed the recommendation.
Younger people with moderate to severe immunocompromising conditions should also get the additional dose, the CDC said. They may even need three or more doses, the CDC said, noting that patients with these conditions should talk with their doctors about the number of doses they may need.
“This vote allows people to make the best decisions possible to keep themselves and their loved ones safe from COVID-19. CDC will continue to educate the public on how and when to get their updated vaccinations so they can risk less severe illness and do more of what they love,” Mandy Cohen, MD, director of the CDC, said in a statement.
Hospitalization rates from COVID-19 are still high in seniors, especially those ages 75 and older, according to an article published by the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.
In making its recommendation, ACIP weighed factors such as the lack of seasonality of SARS-CoV-2 circulation, disease epidemiology, declining vaccine effectiveness, and changes in variants of the virus that causes the disease.
The CDC’s latest data for the current respiratory disease season showed that 40% of adults aged 65 and older had received one dose of the vaccine and 8.9% received a second dose. Second doses were higher in people living in urban areas. About 5.4% of immunocompromised individuals who are 18 and up received a second dose, CIDRAP reported.
CDC experts recommended waiting a minimum of two months between vaccines based on the patient’s risks and circumstances.The news comes as groups are pushing ACIP to lower the age recommendation for pneumonia vaccines in older adults from age 65 to age 50.
