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CDC Unanimously Recommends J&J, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Booster
CDC unanimously recommends a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines one day after FDA approval.
CDC recently recommended Johnson & Johnson and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for all eligible individuals who receive any FDA authorized vaccine.
The organization recommended the Johnson & Johnson vaccine booster for adults aged 18 years and older who received the company’s single-shot vaccine at least two months earlier or for eligible adults at least six months following the second dose of an authorized mRNA vaccine.
“Today’s recommendation supports the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as a booster for eligible individuals in the U.S. regardless of which vaccine they initially receive,” Paul Stoffels, MD, vice chairman of the executive committee and chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson, said in the announcement.
In previous trials, Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine was 94 percent effective against coronavirus in individuals when given as a booster.
At the same time, the CDC recommended a 50 microgram dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine booster as well.
Specifically, the organization unanimously recommended the booster dose for individuals 65 years of age and older, people aged 18 to 64 who are at high risk of severe COVID-19, and people aged 18 to 64 with frequent exposure to the virus.
Moderna estimated that the authorization of the booster dose and subsequent approval could result in up to 1 billion extra doses available for distribution in 2022.
“Since we began this journey in January of 2020, our goal has been to protect as many people as possible from COVID-19. The ACIP recommendation is another step forward in our quest to address this devastating pandemic with a vaccine,” Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, said in the announcement.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to provide individuals with another layer of protection against COVID-19,” Bancel continued.
The CDC recommendation comes one day after FDA granted emergency use authorization to both companies for their respective COVID-19 vaccine booster doses.
