Ok, here's my fastest and roughest lit review ever to make a template for this:
I strongly oppose the FDA’s proposal to block Americans under the age of 65 from accessing booster vaccines to protect themselves from COVID-19. [This part is critical. State as clearly as possible what your stance is, right up front. Seriously, do not bury the lede and talk about something tangential like supporting rights to access healthcare or valuing science; get straight to the point, then explain why afterward].
[Then expand: Include supporting evidence and cite sources; your arguments could include any or all of the following:]
Complications from COVID-19 are serious and long-lasting, and have been shown to affect people of all ages. Ely et al., 2024 (“Long Covid Defined,” https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsb2408466) review the last 4 years of research and find that Long Covid “can affect children and adults, regardless of health, disability, or socioeconomic status, age, sex, sexual orientation, race, ethnic group, or geographic location.” Multiple studies have already supported this, showing that post-COVID-19 symptoms can have devastating impacts on the daily lives of young adults (ex: Mogensen et al., 2023 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38315-2; Herrera et al., 2023 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-32939-0; Ripley-Gonzalez et al., 2023 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-42710-0)
Young and healthy people choose to vaccinate to protect the vulnerable people in their lives; vaccination across the community, especially children, is critical to protect those who are most susceptible (Anderson et al. 2018 https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciy142). Vaccine-powered protection is also critical for parents to protect their children from COVID infection, particularly when for children who are unable to be vaccinated or who are otherwise vulnerable (Hayek et al., 2022 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm3087)
COVID booster shots have been shown to be effective already, and continued boosters are necessary to maintain protections against evolving strains of COVID (Embi et al., 2021 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7044e3.htm?os=vb; Goldberg et al 2021 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2114228; Hall et al., 2021 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2111462; Voutouri et al 2023 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2211132120#core-r4-1)
Include anecdotal evidence here as well – are you under the age of 65 and have been impacted by COVID? Does getting a COVID booster help to protect vulnerable loved ones? Have you seen or experienced the effects of long covid first hand? Explain why you care!
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A couple of notes: The comment opportunity linked here is a notice that the vaccines advisory committee will be holding a public hearing about this on Thursday the 22nd from 8:30am-4:30pm; the link will be posted here (https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees) on the day. I’ll keep an eye out on the day of and share the link when it’s up. The hearing is open to the public; oral presentations from the public will be scheduled between approximately 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on May 22, 2025. The submission period to request an oral presentation timeslot has closed.
Also, I read a sampling of the current (~6000) comments and there are a SHIT-TON of anti-vax comments; do not look at these links being passed around and think “oh everybody else has got this.” We need as vocal a response as possible to counteract these demons.
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