washington the biden administrations embattled plan to dispense covid19 booster shots to most americans faced its first major hurdle friday as a government advisory panel met to decide whether to endorse extra doses of the pfizer vaccinescientists inside and outside the government have been divided in recent days over the need for boosters and who should get them and the world health organization has strongly objected to rich nations giving a third round of shots when poor countries dont have enough vaccine for their firstthe panel made up of outside experts who advise the food and drug administration weighed a less than clearcut case while research suggests immunity levels in those who have been vaccinated wane over time and boosters can reverse that the pfizer vaccine is still highly protective against severe illness and death even amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variantthe fda experts were scheduled to vote on one basic question does the evidence show that a pfizer booster would be safe and effective for people 16 and older in the event of a yes vote the fda is expected to quickly approve boosters for pfizers shotbut that is just one step in the process the more thorny question of who should get the shots and when will be debated next week by advisers to the centers for disease control and prevention the cdc generally adopts the recommendations of the group which sets policy for us vaccination campaignssome group members have made clear they favor giving third doses to older people nursing home residents and frontline health care workers rather than all adultsseparate fda and cdc decisions will be needed in order for people who received the moderna or jj shots to get boostersfridays meeting came as the delta variant continues to drive us cases and deaths back to levels not seen since last winter that has given urgency to efforts by top health officials to shore up americans protection against the virusdr peter marks fdas top vaccine regulator acknowledged the intense disagreements in opening remarks to the advisory panelwe know there may be differing opinions in interpreting the data he said we strongly encourage all the different viewpoints to be voiced and discussed regarding the data which is complex and evolvingpresident joe bidens top health advisers including the heads of the fda and cdc first announced plans for widespread booster shots a month ago targeting the week of sept 20 as an allbutcertain start date it said boosters would be dispensed eight months after the second dose of the pfizer and moderna vaccinesbut that was before fda staff scientists had completed their own assessments of the data some experts questioned whether biden was breaking his own pledge to follow the science on covid19 by getting out ahead of government scientistsearlier this week two top fda vaccine reviewers joined a group of international scientists in publishing an editorial rejecting the need for boosters in healthy people the scientists said continuing studies show the shots are working