The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a booster shot for Johnson & Johnson (J&J)’s Jansen vaccine and Moderna vaccine on the 20th (local time), CNBC reported.
The FDA has approved the combination vaccine at the same time, allowing a booster dose of the initial vaccine and other vaccines. “Today’s action is to actively combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting FDA Secretary-General Janet Woodcock. “As COVID-19 continues to affect the country, it has shown that vaccination is the safest and most effective way to prevent COVID-19,” Woodcock said.
The FDA’s approval for booster injections comes after an FDA advisory board unanimously recommended booster injections for both vaccines last week. The committee recommends booster injections for all people 18 years of age and older who received a Janssen vaccine at least two months in advance, while the Moderna vaccine booster injection for seniors and at-risk adults 6 months after their first dose of Pfizer vaccine. also recommended
The decision will be forwarded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Vaccine Advisory Board. The Vaccine Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet on the 21st. Once the committee issues its recommendations and the CDC approves, booster vaccinations can be made immediately to those who qualify.
The booster dose will also be available to more than 15 million people who have received J&J’s Janssen vaccine and 69 million people who have received two full doses of the Moderna vaccine.
Eligible Americans may also receive a combination of vaccines. A study by the National Institute of Health published last week found that Pfizer and Moderna had the highest antibody levels.
The FDA said it has identified a risk of rare inflammatory heart disease, myocarditis, and pericarditis following vaccination with Moderna, particularly after a second dose. Symptoms usually appear a few days after vaccination. The observed risk is higher in men under the age of 40, particularly those between the ages of 18 and 24.
Pfizer’s booster vaccine was approved a month ago for a variety of Americans, including the elderly, adults with basic medical conditions, and people who work or live in high-risk environments, such as health care and grocery workers.
Booster injections have been a topic of debate among scientists, as still many people have not been vaccinated. The World Health Organization has asked rich countries to withhold booster injections, and scientists say they are not convinced Americans need booster injections right away.
The Biden administration is urging people to vaccinate, saying that boosting boosters will help protect lives and prevent serious infections, hospitalizations, and death from the rapidly spreading Delta strain.
Pfizer and Moderna’s messenger RNA vaccines require two doses. On the other hand, J&J’s Janssen vaccine is completed in a single dose. However, in the United States, the effectiveness of Janssen is 72%, which is lower than Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which are over 90%.
According to the data submitted by J&J to the FDA, two doses of Janssen vaccine were administered in the United States two months after the first dose, and the protection rate from COVID-19 infection increased to 94%, showing similar performance to the mRNA vaccine.
Reporter Min-seong Cho, Global Economics, mscho@g-enews.com
.
