GEORGIA: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently recommended the COVID-19 vaccine boosters to Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson shots recipients. It also said Americans could choose a different COVID-19 vaccine from their original shot as a booster.
Rochelle Walensky, Director, CDC, signed off on the proposals joining the agency with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) authorization for the additional boosters and "mix-and-match" dosing.
Walensky said that all the vaccines authorized in the United States were highly effective in reducing the risk of severe COVID-19, hospitalization, and death, amid widely circulating Delta variants.
The CDC panel struggled with making the language of its recommendations as straightforward as possible and offering flexibility for patients to get a vaccine of their choice.
The proposal also clears the way for J&J vaccine recipients to get a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine shot, showing more excellent protection in various studies.
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) chose to recommend booster doses for individuals who had received the first J&J vaccine shot at least two months earlier and were aged 18 and above. They also recommended it to those who received their second dose of Moderna's vaccine at least six months earlier, those aged 65 and over, individuals at risk of severe illness and those at high risk of exposure to the virus through their jobs.