Public Health

FDA shortens waiting time for Moderna boosters to 5 months for adults

A health care worker prepares during the COVID-19 pandemic in Manhattan in New York City on Jan.

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The Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized adults aged 18 and over who were vaccinated with Moderna to receive a booster dose five months after their second dose, reducing the waiting time by one month.

Earlier this week, the FDA approved anyone 12 years or older who received the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine to receive a booster dose at least five months after their second dose, also after six months.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention originally recommended Moderna boosters for adults in October. The CDC on Wednesday lowered the Pfizer booster eligibility to people 12 years and older.

Moderna and Pfizer are the most commonly administered vaccines in the United States

The shortened waiting time for boosters is due to the fact that data show that two doses do not offer strong protection against symptomatic infection by Omicron, the dominant variant in the US, although they still offer good protection against serious illness.

Boosters were found to be up to 75% effective in preventing such an infection, according to a report by the UK Health Authority released last week.

“Vaccination is our best defense against Covid-19, including the circulating variants, and reducing the time between completing a primary series and a booster dose can help reduce declining immunity,” said Dr. Peter Marks, head of the FDA group responsible for vaccine safety.

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in an interview at a Goldman Sachs event yesterday that a fourth dose may be required at some point as booster protection is likely to decrease over time as well.

“I’ll be surprised in the coming weeks if we get the data that holds up well over time – I wouldn’t expect it to hold up great,” Bancel said, referring to the strength of the booster shots.

The UK health authority found that booster protection decreased after about four weeks. According to the UK agency’s report, boosters were 55% to 70% effective at preventing infections by the fifth through ninth week and 40% to 50% effective 10 weeks after receiving the vaccine.

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, told CNBC last month that people will likely need a fourth dose and the syringe may be needed earlier than expected due to the virulence of Omicron.

According to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the US is currently facing an unprecedented wave of Covid infection with a seven-day average of more than 600,000 new cases daily. That’s a 72% increase from the previous week and a pandemic record.

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