WASHINGTON — 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 has become dominant, leading to concerns about a resurgence and the need for additional safeguards. In many countries in Europe, cases remain at very high levels thanks to the even-more-transmissible subvariant. Booster doses are becoming an increasingly relied-upon tool in the fight against COVID especially as states and companies cut back safeguards such as masking and work from home.
