You're listening to shortwave from NPR.

Hey, they're short waivers. Emily Quang here with Science Correspondent Rob Stein from our dream team of NPR health

reporters helping us navigate the COVID pandemic together.

And we're right now at a critical moment. Booster shots are a big topic right now for the government.

Yeah, Emily, you know, the nation is on the verge of dramatically expanding the availability of COVID-19 vaccine boosters to shore up the immune systems of tens of billions of people.

Yeah, it's a big undertaking and a pretty dramatic pivot because after months of saying the US didn't need boosters.

Good morning. White House officials this summer said having reviewed the most current data.

We do.

It is now our clinical judgment that the time to lay out a plan for COVID-19 boosters is now they announced back in August that starting September 20th booster shots would be offered to all adults who've been vaccinated for at least eight months.

We are concerned that this pattern of decline we are seeing will continue in the months ahead, which could lead to reduce protection against severe disease hospitalization and death.

And that set off a pretty intense debate, right?

Yeah, it was a debate about science, but it was also a debate about ethics.

You know, many experts argued that boosters weren't needed because the vaccines are still working incredibly well.

And there would be unethical to give people in this country extra shots when most of the world is desperate for their first.

Yeah, that is a whole conversation.

And of course, some also fear that boosters will distract from the top priority, which is vaccinating tens of millions of unvaccinated people in this country to prevent yet another deadly search.

Yeah, absolutely. But you know, then it took some time for Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson Johnson to actually formally request authorization for boosters further vaccines and submit the evidence to make the case for that extra shot.

That spurred an intense review of the scientific evidence and the FDA advisors finally issued their recommendations, albeit with many experts complaining the process was rushed and the evidence is still pretty thin.

Today on the show, after months of zig-zags, the campaign to roll out boosters is upon us.

You're listening to Shorewave, the Daily Science podcast from NPR.

So, Rob, the FDA is expected to make some important announcements on boosters this week.

Who are you expecting to hear from?

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