The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved booster doses of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines after unanimous votes by a committee of independent advisers, according to NPR.
The agency has also approved boosters that differ from the vaccine originally used to immunize a person against COVID-19. For example, people who received a J&J vaccine could receive one from Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech as a booster dose.
In late September, the FDA approved a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
The agency’s action commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said in a statement, “The available data suggest waning immunity in some populations who are fully vaccinated. The availability of these authorized boosters is important for continued protection against COVID-19 disease.”
A committee of advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is scheduled to meet today to discuss COVID-19 vaccine booster shots and make recommendations on their use.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will make the final call on vaccine guidelines. Once the CDC issues its guidance, the distribution will begin officially.
A National Institutes of Health (NIH) study has found no safety concerns in using a different vaccine as a booster, according to NPR. The study found that a mixed vaccine combination is good in stimulating antibodies and in some cases, the approach appeared much better.
Dr. Amanda Cohn, Chief Medical Officer, CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said Friday, “From a public health perspective, there’s a clear need in some situations for some individuals to receive a different vaccine.”
Dr. Mark Sawyer of Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego said, “I’m sold already and that’s because I agree completely with Dr. Cohn’s comments that we need flexibility and improved access for everybody, which the flexibility of being able to mix and match will allow.”
Several committee members said many people were getting booster doses and using a combination approach on their own.
Dr. Ofer Levy of Harvard Medical School said, “Many Americans are taking matters into their own hands. I’m reading in the media that people are getting boosters or mixing different products through their primary care providers, or not revealing what they got before. In the real world, all these kinds of combinations of extra boosters are already happening.”
He asked the FDA to act quickly on this matter. “I think it’s a matter of some urgency for FDA to help sort out what is admittedly a complicated and challenging scenario,” Dr. Ofer said. “We can’t hide from it. And I do think we need to give guidance to the public.”
