Medscape: Booster shot back-and-forth creates uncertainty, confusion

In the wake of recent announcements from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about who is authorized to get a third or 'booster' shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, many people, patients and providers alike, are confused. In an article on the topic, Medscape interviewed Louito Edje, MD, associate dean of graduate medical education at the UC College of Medicine who said that confusion could make some people reluctant to get the vaccine.

Medscape reported that the confusion started, in part, with the August 13 announcement that immunocrompromised Ameriicans were eligible for a booster shot. Next came the initial Biden administration intention to provide most adults in the United States with a third shot starting September 20 — an announcement later rolled back — followed by the FDA and CDC limiting boosters to select groups last month.

"It was only 3% of the population that was going to be getting a third dose, then it was back to everyone being able to get the booster, and then it's back to a select crew," Edje told Medscape. This kind of mixed messaging is generating more questions than answers.