COVID-19 Boosters

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On September 24, 2021, the United States’ CDC made recommendations on who should or may receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster. These recommendations overstepped the vote made by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), who voted against the recommendation that those 18-64 who have occupational exposure may receive a booster vaccine. In this podcast, we discuss the current evidence as of September 24, 2021 on boosters as well as the evidence-based risk-benefit analysis from the CDC ACIP meeting. Jeremy’s insights can be found at Inside Medicine.

First, the data presented from Pfizer is minimal and involves a total of 312 individuals who received boosters. We have no insight into effectiveness based on this.

In Israel, boosters were available to those ≥60 who completed the series ≥5 months prior beginning at the end of July. Bar-On et al report on this natural experiment.

The data presented at the CDC ACIP meeting can be found in the presentation slides available here.

Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia

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In this episode, we discuss thrombotic thrombocytopenia associated with the viral vector COVID-19 vaccines (VITT: Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia) – a very very rare, but real entity. Information is still emerging so numbers will likely change in the coming days. For more on cerebral vein thrombosis in general, check out this podcast.

Greinacher et al NEJM 2021
Schultz et al. NEJM 2021
ACIP Presentation by Jannsen 4/14/21, Muir et al NEJM 2021

International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis Statement

United Kingdom Guidance On Thrombosis Following Vaccinations