CDC advisers back coronavirus boosters for all adults; urge them for people 50 or older

Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed a coronavirus booster-shot-for-all policy Friday, voting to allow all adults to get an extra shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. In a separate last-minute vote, they also recommended the shots for all people 50 or over.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to sign off on the unanimous recommendations later Friday, making broad booster eligibility official U.S. policy a week before Thanksgiving, the unofficial start of holiday season and as infections tick up in large swaths of the country. Fearful of winter surges, officials of about a dozen states already have already moved on their own to broaden booster eligibility to those 18 and older amid strong evidence that vaccine immunity wanes over time across all age groups.