Boosters are a priority with the president’s administration.
On Thursday, a Food and Drug Administration panel unanimously voted in favor of Moderna’s COVID-19 booster. The committee said boosters should be recommended for people 65 and over, people between the ages of 18 and 64 who are high risk, and people who are at risk of serious COVID-19 because of their jobs or living situation. It is essentially the same population group that was included in the recommendations for the Pfizer booster last month.
The president’s administration has made a priority of getting Americans vaccinated and giving the boosters, although experts are divided on whether the general population will benefit. The FDA and CDC state that the way to ultimately end the COVID-19 pandemic is by getting shots to the unvaccinated, rather than boosting those who are already vaccinated.
Unlike Pfizer, Moderna is proposing to use a half-dose of the vaccine for the booster given at least six months after the prime dose, rather than an additional full dose. The difference may make Moderna boosters less likely to trigger side effects than the first two doses in the series.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For FDA officials as they evaluate and recommend therapies and treatments for health conditions and illnesses.
- For CDC leaders as they issue recommendations to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
- For those who have experienced adverse events from the COVID-19 inoculations have natural immunity after recovering from the virus.
Sources: The Hill, CNN, PBS, StatNews
