U.S. regulators cleared second booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc. and the partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE for adults 50 and older, making millions more people eligible for the shots as concern grows about a potential new wave of infections.
Those who have received a first booster dose of the drugmakers’ shots at least four months earlier can now get another, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. For most people, the second booster will be a fourth shot, while it will be the third for those who got initial single-shot immunizations from Johnson & Johnson.
While highly transmissible omicron has declined overall, the virus’s BA.2 strain continues to spread, leading to concerns about a resurgence and the need for additional safeguards. Booster doses are becoming an increasingly relied-upon tool in the fight against COVID, especially as states and companies decrease reliance on safeguards such as masking and work from home.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is warning that funding is needed to continue fighting the virus. The U.S. lacks sufficient supplies to give everyone an additional booster dose of mRNA vaccine, officials have said.
The FDA also authorized a second booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for certain immunocompromised people 12 and older, and Moderna’s vaccine for a similar population 18 and older. That additional shot can be administered at least four months after the receipt of a first authorized booster dose. People ages 12 and older with moderately or severely compromised immune systems were already able to get four shots, three of which counted as their primary series.
