FDA clears Moderna and J&J boosters, backs ‘mix-and-match’ strategy

By Ankur Banerjee

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson, and said Americans can choose a different shot than their original inoculation as a booster.

The decision paves the way for millions more people in the United States to get the additional protection with the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus causing breakthrough infections among some who are fully vaccinated.

The agency previously authorized boosters of the Pfizer Inc COVID-19 vaccine developed with German partner BioNTech SE at least six months after the first round of shots to increase protection for people aged 65 and older, those at risk of severe disease and those who are exposed to the virus through their work.

Last week, an advisory panel to the FDA voted to recommend a third round of shots of the Moderna vaccine for the same groups.

The panel also recommended a second shot of the J&J vaccine for all recipients of the one-dose inoculation at least two months after receiving their first.

The FDA and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were under some pressure to authorize the additional shots after the White House announced plans in August for a widespread booster campaign.

The advisory panel meeting included a presentation of data on mixing vaccines from a U.S. National Institutes of Health study in which 458 participants received some combination of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and J&J shots.

The data showed that people who initially got J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine had a stronger immune response when boosted with either the Pfizer or Moderna shot, and that “mixing and matching” booster shots of different types was safe in adults.

Many countries including the UK have backed mix-and-match strategies for the widely-used AstraZeneca Plc vaccine, which is not authorized in the United States but is based on similar viral vector technology as J&J’s vaccine.

Reuters reported in June that infectious disease experts were weighing the need for booster shots of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine after the J&J shot.

An CDC advisory committee on Thursday will make its recommendations about which groups of people should get the Moderna and J&J boosters, which the agency’s director will use to inform her final decision.

About 11.2 million people have so far received a booster dose, according to data from the CDC.

Reuters