FDA, CDC Clear 3rd Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for all adults

A woman gets her booster vaccination with the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine against the corona virus at the vaccination center. Sven Hoppe / image alliance via Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday approved a third booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for all U.S. adults.

The agencies recommend a 30-microgram Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 shot or a 50-microgram mRNA-1273 Moderna for all 18 and older at least six months after their primary mRNA series or two months after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

FDA cleared the shots for all adults in emergencies early Friday after reviewing new experimental data submitted by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. A third Pfizer booster had already been approved for people over 65 and younger adults with underlying medical conditions or at high risk of infection.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met Friday and voted unanimously to recommend the third booster under the FDA’s emergency use permit. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is expected to sign the advisory panel’s decision later Friday.

Under the CDC’s recommendation:

• Adults 50 years and older who received an mRNA-based vaccine ought to get a booster dose.
• Adults between 18 and 49 who received an mRNA-based vaccine able to get a booster dose.
• All adults who received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine ought to receive a booster shot.

“COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be the best and most effective defense against COVID-19,” said acting FDA commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock in a statement Friday. “Approval of the use of a single booster dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in persons 18 years of age and older helps to provide continued protection against COVID-19, including the serious consequences that may arise. such as hospitalization and death. ”

“I think it will be particularly important to go into the holiday season and the winter season,” Jamie Loehr, a member of the CDC’s immunization advisory panel, said in a statement after Friday’s vote. “I look forward to having more data in the future on whether this is actually a booster dose or actually a third dose of the primary series. It will take months, if not years, to find out.”

More than 31 million people in the United States, about 16 percent of those who are fully vaccinated, have received an extra booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC data.