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

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.”