A CDC panel is looking at Moderna, J&J, and "mix-and-match" boosters

Syringes filled with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine sit on table during vaccine clinic in Southfield, Michigan, U.S., September 29, 2021. REUTERS/Emily Elconin

Ben Burke Producer

U.S.

CDC panel approves Moderna, J&J, “mix-and-match” boosters

Oct 21, 2021

Ben Burke Producer

By Ben Burke (Producer)

Update (10/22/21): A advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on boosters for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Thursday. They also said people could choose mix and match their booster shot with their initial shot.

The CDC panel didn’t explicitly recommend anyone get a different brand. They only said a booster of some sort was recommended. Some of the advisers said they would prefer that J&J recipients receive a competitor’s booster, citing preliminary data from an ongoing government study that suggested an mRNA booster was more effective than a J&J booster.

The video above shows clips from Thursday’s debate.

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Original Story (10/21/21): An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began debate Thursday on the Moderna booster shot, the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) booster shot, and “mix-and-match” boosters. The panel’s decision is expected to influence what the CDC will recommend regarding the boosters, like it did with the Pfizer booster.

“CDC’s recommendations will not just address who should receive a booster dose, but also include what vaccine they should receive, how and when,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Thursday. “It is your conversations that we will explore the nuances of this guidance and then communicate it to the public.”

Thursday’s panel debate comes a day after the FDA approved the Moderna and J&J boosters, as well as the ability for people to get a booster shot of a different vaccine different from their initial dose(s).

“The availability of these authorized boosters is important for continued protection against COVID-19 disease,” acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a press release.

With its vote, the CDC panel has the decision on whether to follow similar recommendations for the Moderna and J&J boosters that it gave for the Pfizer booster. It ended up being recommended for everyone 65 and older, nursing home residents, and younger adults at increased risk of infection because of health problems, jobs or living conditions. People in that last category include health care workers, teachers and people in jails or homeless shelters.

However, the FDA, as well as its advisory panel, approved the J&J booster for all adults. They also said J&J vaccine recipients only have to wait two months to get the booster, as opposed to the six month wait recommended for the Pfizer booster by the CDC and approved for the Moderna booster by the FDA. The decisions were driven by research showing a single J&J dose was significantly less effective than two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

The CDC panel will also have to determine whether it recommends a full dose or half-dose of the Moderna booster. A doctor with Moderna discussed the half-dose Thursday.

“Lower booster doses than those used in primary series are used for other vaccinations… this is because these booster vaccines are able to reactivate immune memory,” Dr. Jacqueline Miller said. “That’s important because you are often able to get a better boost than you were initially, even with a lower dose.”

Dr. Grace Lee, committee chair: “It has been moved and seconded that we adopt the recommendation language presented by the work group for vote number one.”

“Vote number one passes with 15 yeses and zero nos. Thank you, everybody.”

“It’s been moved and seconded that we adopt the recommendation language for ACIP vote number two listed on the screen.”

“Vote number two passes with 15 yeses and zero nos.”

Dr. Jason Goldman, representative for American College of Physicians: “I was very concerned last time about how permissive the booster recommendations were in the absence of true data. And my concern with this is we don’t necessarily have the data, and it seems almost as if the policy recommendation is trying to overexplain to shore up the fact that we really don’t have the data to support it. It might be even easier to reflect what is going on on the ground floor anyway, which is anyone who wants a booster is getting it anyway.”

Dr. Sarah Long, committee member: “I am still very much bothered by the category of the 18 through 64 with perceived increased exposure.”

“I just feel that we’re abdicating our responsibility, not only to allow people to be immunized if they should be immunized, but to protect them from immunizations that they do not need that have adverse events.”

Dr. James Loehr, committee member: “I echo Dr. Long’s feeling that there are probably many people who are going to get a Moderna booster who don’t need it. However, given the situation that we’ve already approved of Pfizer and there are enough people who are looking for a booster, I’m inclined reluctantly, to just go ahead and recommend a similar pattern for the Moderna booster. I have much stronger feelings in favor of the Janssen booster.”

Dr. Pablo Sanchez, committee member: “People over 18 years of age who were initially vaccinated with the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, I was personally not going to recommend the booster dose of the same product of Janssen. So I’m glad that we have included the mix and match part for the number two because there I, I would support it.”

Dr. Beth Bell, committee member: “I think that’s a really important aspect of all of this is being clear and not dancing on the head of a pin so that we don’t further confuse the American people. I think, you know, between all the different recommending bodies and voices out there, we risk really sort of sacrificing what’s best overall in the in the, you know, for the purposes of purity.”