Biden Officials Now Expect Vulnerable Americans to Need Booster Shots
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON — Biden administration health officials increasingly think that vulnerable populations will need booster shots even as research continues into how long the coronavirus vaccines remain effective. Senior officials now say they expect that people who are 65 and older or who have compromised immune systems will most likely need a third shot from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, two vaccines based on the same technology that have been used to inoculate the vast majority of Americans thus far.
That is a sharp shift from just a few weeks ago, when the administration said it thought there was not enough evidence to back boosters yet.On Thursday, a key official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the agency is exploring options to give patients with compromised immune systems third doses even before regulators broaden the emergency use authorization for coronavirus vaccines, a step that could come soon for the Pfizer vaccine.
Dr. Amanda Cohn, the chief medical officer of the C.D.C.’s immunizations division, told an advisory committee to the agency that officials were “actively looking into ways” to provide certain people access to booster shots “earlier than any potential change in regulatory decisions.” “So stay tuned,” she added. The growing consensus within the administration that at least some Americans will need a booster is tied in part to research suggesting that the Pfizer vaccine is less effective against the coronavirus after about six months. More than half of those fully vaccinated in the United States so far have received Pfizer’s vaccine, in two doses administered three weeks apart.
Pfizer’s continuing global study of its clinical trial participants shows that four to six months after the second dose, the vaccine’s effectiveness against symptomatic infection drops from a high of 95 percent to 84 percent, according to the company. Data from the Israeli government, which has fully vaccinated more than half of its population with Pfizer doses since January, also points to a downward trend in effectiveness over time, although administration officials are viewing that data cautiously because of wide margins for error.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/us/covid-vaccine-boosters.html
Must be the Friday night news dump.
= new reply since forum marked as read
(and also got Moderna)
looks like from what is being said that Moderna will be the go to booster...now its a wait and see phase.... 
I am guessing since NIH was involved with developing Moderna, that is what they have expertise in and probably what they wanted to try in a trial.
Pfizer, by far, has been the most distributed vaccine in the U.S. in any case due to them being first with authorization, and having a significant number of doses ready to go, but I expect the 2 could be interchangeable for a booster.
ETA - I had seen some articles where some people with J&J were seeing out their own boosters - https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-07-01/reports-of-some-getting-pfizer-moderna-boosters-after-j-j-vaccine-prompts-calls-for-more-guidance
So although obviously not "authorized" for off-label use (mixed vaccines/boosters), some are going ahead with their own trialing.
I had heard about it but never got chance to check it out. Discovery has a streaming option to watch those episodes (if you have eligible cable service) so I have it bookmarked! 
