Update (10/15/21): A day after unanimously approving booster shots of the Moderna vaccine for some adults, a Food and Drug Administration panel unanimously approved the Johnson & Johnson booster for all adults Friday. The video above shows clips from the panel’s two-day debate on each company’s booster.
The panel said the J&J booster should be offered at least two months after the initial dose. That’s significantly shorter than the recommended 6-month period recommended for the Pfizer and Moderna boosters. J&J said the extra dose adds important protection as early as two months after initial vaccination. However, the booster might work better if people wait until six months later.
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Original Story (10/14/21): A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel began two days of debate on whether or not to recommend booster shots from Moderna, as well as Johnson & Johnson, Thursday. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) unanimously endorsed Moderna’s booster shots Thursday, before talking J&J Friday.
The first two Moderna shots that everyone receives each contain 100 micrograms of the vaccine. Moderna says a single 50-microgram shot should be enough for a booster. A Moderna study of 344 people found the booster dose spurred a big jump in virus-fighting antibodies, including those able to target the Delta variant.
The FDA will use its advisers’ recommendation in deciding whether to authorize Moderna boosters. If authorization is given, a panel convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will offer more specifics on who should get one next week.
Meanwhile, following an online review posted Wednesday, things look a little less clear for J&J. FDA scientists didn’t reach a firm conclusion about whether there’s enough evidence for J&J boosters. The scientists cited shortcomings with the company’s data, as well as the lack of information on protection against the Delta variant. Meanwhile, preliminary results in a different report indicate while a J&J booster shot may be beneficial to those who got the J&J primary dose, mixing and matching boosters will work at least as well or better.
If approved by regulators, Moderna and/or J&J would join Pfizer in having booster shots available to at least some Americans. Pfizer’s boosters are available to people 65 and older, as well as adults with other health problems, jobs, or living situations that put them at increased risk of serious illness from the coronavirus.
Despite the panel debate on Moderna and J&J booster shots, U.S. officials stress the priority is to get shots to the 66 million unvaccinated Americans who are eligible for the vaccine.
“It’s important to remember that the vaccines still provide strong protection against serious outcomes” FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said.