The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-27)

SUNDAY,MARCH 27 , 2022 .THEWASHINGTONPOST EZ M2 A

ChicagoTribuneonSaturday.

Policesaiditwasatargeted

attack.

Thegunmanfledinacarwith

otherpeople,hesaid.

Morethantwohourslater,

policestoppedthevehicleonan

expresswayinChicago,Balogh

said.Thecar’sownerwastaken

intocustodyandwasbeing

questionedasapersonofinterest,

hesaid.Agunwasseized.

TheCookCountyMedical

Examiner’sOfficeidentifiedthe

victimasJoelValdes,20,of

Skokie.A15-year-oldgirlwhowas

shotinthewristwasinstable

condition,Baloghsaid.

—Associated Press

Ex-candidate out on bailinchild

porncase:Aformer

gubernatorialcandidateinMaine

wasbailedoutofjailonSaturday

afterhisarrestonchargesof

possessionofchildpornography.

OfficialswiththeHancock

CountyJailsaidEliotCutler,75,

wasreleasedintheafternoon

afteradayincustody.Hehad

beenheldon$50,000bail.The

MaineStatePolicecomputer

crimesunitarrestedCutleron

Fridayathishome.Hetwiceran

forgovernorasanindependent,

usinghispersonalwealthtopay

fortheunsuccessfulcampaigns.

Bodiesof Marinesflownto U.S.:

ThebodiesoffourMarineswho

diedinamilitaryaircraftcrash

duringaNATOexercisewere

transferredtoDoverAirForce

BaseonFriday, U.S.MarineCorps

officialssaid.Officialssaidan

OspreyaircraftcrashedonMarch

18inaNorwegiantowninthe

ArcticCircle,killingthefour

Marines:Capt.RossA.Reynolds,

27,ofLeominster,Mass.;Capt.

MatthewJ.Tomkiewicz,27,of

FortWayne,Ind.;GunnerySgt.

JamesW. Speedy, 30,of

Cambridge,Ohio;andCpl.Jacob

M.Moore,24,ofCatlettsburg,Ky.

—Fromnews reports

COLORADO

Spreadingwildfire

forcesevacuations

Authoritiesissuedan

evacuationorderfor19,

peopleSaturdaynearafast-

movingColoradowildfireinthe

rollinghillssouthofBoulder,not

farfromthesiteofadestructive

2021blaze.

Thewildfirewasfueledby

windearlierinthedayandhad

grownto122acreswithno

containment,BoulderFire-

RescuespokespersonMarya

Washburnsaid.TheBoulder

OfficeofEmergency

Managementsaidanovernight

shelterwasopenedafter

evacuationorderscovered8,

homesand7,000structures.No

structureshadbeendamaged.

Windshavedieddownand

temperatureshavefallen,

Washburnsaid.Officialsexpectto

bedealingwiththefireforseveral

daysduetoheavyfuels,said

BoulderFire-RescueWildland

DivisionChiefBrianOliver.

Thefireisinanareawherea

blazedestroyed1,000homeslast

yearinunincorporatedBoulder

CountyandsuburbanSuperior

andLouisville.Superiortown

officialstoldresidentsinanemail

thattherewerenoimmediate

concernsforthecommunity.

—Associated Press

ILLINOIS

1killed, 1injured

in mall shooting

Amaskedgunmanopenedfire

inasuburbanChicagoshopping

mallFriday, leavingonemandead

andwoundingateenagegirl.

Thegunmanbeganfiringjust

after7p.m.Fridaynearthefood

courtattheFashionOutletsof

ChicagomallinRosemont,just

northwestofthecity, Rosemont

policeSgt.JoeBaloghtoldthe

politics &the nation

DIGEST

“World Stage: Ukraine”

StavrosLambrinidis,the European

Union’s ambassadorto the United

States

Wednesday, Mar.30|11a.m.

“Capehart”

MelissaMurray, lawprofessor,

New York University School of Law

ModeratedbyJonathanCapehart

Thursday, Mar.31|2p.m.

“The Legacyof AmericanHumor”

CappyMcGarr,co-creator,Mark

Twain Prize for AmericanHumor,

and author,“TheMan WhoMade

MarkTwain Famous”

Kevin Nealon,actorand comedian

ModeratedbyJonathanCapehart

Friday, April1|9a.m.

“First Look”

David VonDrehle, nationalaffairs

and politicscolumnist,The

WashingtonPost

Jennifer Rubin, opinionscolumnist,

TheWashingtonPost

ModeratedbyJonathanCapehart

All programswill be streamedlive

at washingtonpostlive.com,on

FacebookLive, YouTube, and

Twitter.Email postlive@

washpost.comto submitquestions

for our upcomingspeakers. All time

zoneslistedareEastern.

Monday, Mar.28|11a.m.

“World Stage: Belarus”

SvetlanaTikhanovskaya, leaderof

the democraticoppositionof

Belarus

ModeratedbyMissy Ryan

Monday, Mar.28|1p.m.

“117th Congress”

Rep. MichaelR. Turner (R-Ohio)

ModeratedbyMariannaSotomayor

Tuesday,Mar.29|12:30 p.m.

“The Evolutionof Money:

Cryptocurrency”

Rep. JimHimes(D-Conn.)

Leah Wald, chiefexecutive,Valkyrie

ModeratedbyZivaBranstetter

Presentingsponsor: Unicoin

Tuesday,Mar.29|3p.m.

Washington Post Live events

0

200k

400k

600k

800k

1m

1.2m

7-dayavg.

Feb. 29,2020 Jan. 2021

0

2k

4k

7-dayavg.

Feb. 29,2020 Jan. 2021

0

1m

2m

3m

4m

5m

7-dayavg.

Feb. 29,2020 Jan. 2021

March 26

March 26

March 26

As of 8p.m.Saturday

79,922,

30,

559,705,

976,

788

191,

Note:Startingthisweek,this chartwill be publishedweeklyonSundays.

7-dayaverage

7-dayaverage

Total

DEATHS

Total

VACCINE DOSES ADMINISTERED

Newcoronaviruscases, deaths and

vaccinedoses in the U.S., by day

Total

CASES

7-dayaverage

BYLAURIEMCGINLEY

ANDLENAH.SUN

TheFood and Drug Adminis-
tration is poised to authorize a
secondcoronavirus vaccine
booster for anyone50and older,
abid to provideanextralayer of
protection amid concerns Eu-
rope’s rise in infections from an
omicronsubvariantcouldhitthe
United States, according to sev-
eralgovernmentofficials.
Theauthorizations for second
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna
boosters could be announced as
soonasTuesday, accordingtothe
officials,whospokeonthecondi-
tion of anonymitybecause they
werenotpermittedtodiscussthe
situation.Theysaidtalkscontin-
ue, and it was possible, but
unlikely, thatmajorchanges
couldoccur.
After the FDAacts, Rochelle
Walensky,directoroftheCenters
for DiseaseControl and Preven-
tion, is expected to issue astate-
ment saying second boosters are
available for eligible individuals
interested in receiving them but
nottoexplicitlyrecommendthat.
People willbeable to geta
secondboosteratleast four
months after receiving the first
booster.Currently, secondboost-
ers are recommendedonlyfor
peoplewhose immunesystems
are impaired, which can hamper
an effectiveresponse to the vac-
cine.
Thequestion of additional
boosters has sparked days of
discussionamonghealthofficials
in the Biden administration and
debate within the wider scientif-
iccommunity. Administrationof-
ficials, as with pastvaccine deci-
sions,havestruggledtodecipher
intriguing but frequently evolv-
ing data, often from Israel;a
political environment in which
largeswaths of the American
population are ambivalent —or
in come cases, hostile —toward
vaccines;and uncertaintyabout
whetherthehighlytransmissible
omicronsubvariantBA.2posesa
majorthreat.
Theauthorizationsappearun-
likelytopromptlargenumbersof
olderAmericanstorush to geta
second booster.Datasuggests
thatvaccinefatiguehassetinfor
many, even amongsomeofthe
most vulnerable. About two-
thirds of those65and olderwho
are eligiblefor boosters have
receivedthem, accordingtothe
CDC. Overall,U.S.vaccination
and booster rates arelower than
in manyWestern European na-
tions —which nevertheless have
experiencedasharp riseincases
inrecentweeksandmonths.
In deciding to make fourth
shots of the mRNAvaccines
availableforpeople50andolder,
the FDAconsidered andthen
rejected several alternatives. Of-
ficials described the discussions
amongadministrationhealthex-
perts as lively but not antagonis-
tic, with an efforttocome to a
unifiedposition thatcouldbe
clearlyexplained to theAmeri-
canpeople.
“Therereallywas not alot of
debate there,” said one of the

officials,adding thatWalensky

and the newFDA commissioner,

Robert M. Califf,both supported

the50andolderapproach.

There were initial differences

amongtheagencies,however.

FDAofficials favored second

boosters for olderpeople in part

becauseof concerns aboutthe

spread of BA.2. Theomicron

subvariantaccountsforabout

percent of newcases in the

UnitedStates, according to the

CDC. In someparts of the coun-

try, BA.2 is the cause of more

than 70 percentofnew cases,

accordingtoagenomics testing

company.

In contrast, CDC officials

raised questions aboutwhether

secondboosterswereanimmedi-

atenecessity. ArecentCDCstudy

showed thatthe vaccinations

and boosters mostcommonly

usedintheUnitedStatesprovid-

ed robustprotection for older

and youngerpeople against

death or needing mechanical

ventilation, even as protection

againstmild illness waned over

time.

Thediscussionsstarted by fo-

cusing on athresholdof65,

becausethatwas the ageinthe

authorizationrequestfor the

Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.Moder-

na asked the agencytoallow

adults 18 and oldertoreceive a

secondbooster.

Health officials also consid-

ered greenlighting boostersfor

people 60 and oldertocoincide

with the data from Israel,which

recentlymadefourthshotsavail-

able for thatage group, and has

suppliedagood deal of the

availabledataonsecondboost-

ers.

Some officials at theCDC and

elsewhere in the administration

expressedconcern thatsetting

thebarat60or65wouldprevent

access to second boosters by

youngermembers of medically

underserved groups,including

LatinosandBlacks.Thesegroups

have higher rates of underlying

medicalconditions at younger

ages and have been dispropor-

tionately hurtbythe pandemic.

Thelife expectancyofBlack

Americansisshorter than that

forWhiteAmericans.

In apivotal meetingWednes-

daynight,attended by represen-

tatives of the major health agen-

cies,officialsagreedtosettheage

at 50. Thedecisionto lower the

ageto50addressed ahealth

equity concern, andalso adesire

to avoid the confusionthatfol-

lowedearlieradministration ef-

forts to describewhichindividu-

alswithunderlyingmedicalcon-

ditionswereeligibleforaninitial

boostershot.

On Thursdaycame news that

reinforcedthe move to provide

secondboosterstoolderpeople.

An Israeli study,not yetpeer-

reviewed, in morethanhalf a

millionadults60to100yearsold

foundthatasecond booster pro-

videdsignificant protection

againstdeath fromcovid-19. Of

328,597 people who receiveda

second booster duringa40-day

study periodearly this year,

recipients died; among the

234,868whohadonlyoneboost-

er,232peopledied.

“Our study demonstrates that

amongthe older adult popula-

tion thathad received afirst

boosterdoseatleastfourmonths

earlier,mortalitydue to covid-

during the omicron surgewas

significantly lower amongthose

who had received an additional

booster dose,”saidresearchers

fromBen-GurionUniversity.

Unlikewithsomepastvaccine

decisions, the CDC will not di-

rectly recommendthe second

booster in partbecause the data

is not robust, especially in the

younger-than-60 group.The

agency wants to give permission

for asecondbooster to people

who desirethat. If officials con-

cludelater that an annual coro-

navirusboosterwillbeneededin

the fall for the broaderpopula-

tion, the agencycouldissue a

recommendation.

Expertshavediffering views

onboosters.

“If we go with what we have

seen with previouswaves of the

pandemic so far,itislikely that

thesewaning of antibodieswill

impact on protection againstse-

vere disease outcomes in older

agegroups,”said Boghuma Ti-

tanji, an infectious-diseasesex-

pertatEmoryUniversity.

“Starting asecond booster

programaheadofthewinterand

fall season mayallow us to get

aheadofasurgeand be better

prepared than we were with

omicron,”Titanji saidinan

email. But she notedthatamong

youngerhealthyindividuals,the

addedbenefitofasecondbooster

isunclear.

Peter Hotez, aprofessorof

pediatrics and molecular virolo-

gy at Baylor CollegeofMedicine

andco-directoroftheTexasChil-

dren’s Hospital Centerfor Vac-

cine Development,saidhe

strongly supports asecond

booster for people 60 andolder,

basedontheIsraelidata.

“TheIsraelidataisnotperfect,

but thatisall we have,”Hotez

said.

Althoughtheshotsareintend-

ed mainly to prevent serious

illness anddeath, Hotez said he

doesn’twant to geteven amild

case of thecoronavirus because

of potentially severe aftereffects

thatarenotwellunderstood.

“Idon’twanttogetlongcovid,

gray matter brain degeneration

and cognitive decline,”Hotez

said.

But Michael T. Osterholm,di-

rector of the Centerfor Infec-

tious Disease Research and Pol-

icyatthe UniversityofMinne-

sota,said he wanted to see more

data on boosters for older

groups.

“One of the thingsIamtrying

tothinkthroughisatwhatpoint

dowesaywecan’tboostourway

out of the pandemic,”hesaid.

“Weneed better vaccines.Iam

beggingforavaccine2.0or3.0.”

Theissue of secondboosters

for older peopleisnot scheduled

to be presentedtooutside advi-

sorycommittees of the FDAand

the CDC, becauseofficials view

thechangeasincremental.Inthe

past, the FDAvaccine advisory

committee has pushed back on

some of the agency’sefforts to

expandaccesstovaccines.

Vaccinationshaveall but

groundto ahalt in the United

States, with initial doses and

boosters plummeting to the low-

estlevelssince the programbe-

gan in December 2020. Last

Wednesday, theseven-dayaver-

ageofvaccinations fell to fewer

than 182,000 aday,according to

data compiledbyThe Washing-

tonPost.

Abroaderquestioniswhether

and when all eligible adults will

need afourth dose of the mRNA

vaccines.Thatwill be discussed

April6bythe FDA’soutside

vaccine experts, who will also

consider which factors might

promptachangeinthecomposi-

tion of vaccines to deal with

potentialvariants.

AnthonyS.Fauci, chiefmedi-

cal advisertoPresident Biden,

recentlytalkedaboutfourthdos-

es on Washington Post Live. A

secondbooster,hesaid,increases

individuals’ virus-fightinganti-

body level “towhere it was

originally with the third dose,

butnotaboveandbeyondit.”

But he suggested thatsucces-

sive boosters might spurthe

responses of other parts of the

immunesystem,includingmem-

oryB-cells, that are capableof

fighting offpathogens for

stretchesoftime.

“That’snot easily measurable,

and it maybethatmultiple

boosters do incrementallyin-

creasethat,”hesaid.

FDA to back second booster for some

Authorizationexpected

soon for 4th shot for

thoseage 50 and older

SARAHL. VOISIN/THEWASHINGTONPOST

StevenSollie, aregistered nurse, administersaboostershot on Jan. 18. TheFoodandDrug Administration is expected to authorizea
secondcoronavirus booster forthoseages50and up,thoughitwill not explicitly recommendthatthose peoplegetthe additionaldose.

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