“More than 180 million Americans, including more than 80 percent of people over age 65, are fully vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19.” — NIH Director’s Blog
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Anyone who received Moderna’s two-shot mRNA vaccine or J and J’s one-shot viral vector vaccine earlier in the year is most likely anxiously awaiting their turn to get a booster. My entire family received both our shots of Moderna over six months ago, so we are in this category as well.
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Pfizer and Moderna
In August, the FDA approved a third dose of the Pfizer or Moderna shot for moderately or severely immunocompromised people.
In September, the FDA approved boosters of the Pfizer vaccine for people at high risk for severe illness from COVID-19, including elderly folks, people with underlying medical conditions, and those who work or live in high-risk settings, six months after they complete their first two doses.
On October 14, health officials approved the Moderna boosters for people ages 65 and older and other vulnerable Americans with weakened immune systems.
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Johnson and Johnson
The J and J vaccine was approved earlier this year for emergency use authorization for people 18 years and older.
On October 15, an FDA panel recommended that J and J vaccine recipients 18 years and older get a booster dose as early as two months after the first dose.
President Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci stated:
I think that they should feel good about it because what the advisers to the FDA felt is that given the data that they saw, very likely this should have been a two-dose vaccine to begin with.
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Moderna and Johnson and Johnson Booster Shots
The CDC will have its advisory committee meeting on October 20 and 21 to vote on recommendations for using the Moderna and J and J booster shots, pending approval by the FDA.
The decision on when the Moderna and Pfizer boosters will be available to the general public will depend on the data being collected by the CDC and the studies from Israel. The latter nation is much farther ahead of the U.S. in its vaccine rollout.
The booster shots may be essential for older people with weaker immune systems and those with medical issues that put them at a greater risk of severe disease.
However, the WHO has asked wealthy nations to hold off on boosters until 2022 to prioritize doses for developing countries due to vaccine inequity. Per Our World in Data, only 2.8% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose.
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Vaccine Efficacy
A September 24 CDC study found that the Moderna vaccine was still 93 percent effective at preventing hospitalization among healthy American adults despite the Delta surge from March to August. The efficacy of the Pfizer and J and J vaccines had dropped to 88 and 71 percent, respectively.
Moderna’s current vaccine shot is a 100-microgram dose. The dose of the Moderna booster might be half of the original dosage as the vaccine is still quite protective. Moreover, the Pfizer booster has the same amount of vaccine as the first two jabs, a 30-microgram dose.
Halving the Moderna doses could help reduce the risks of side effects from the booster and provide more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to be used as a booster shot.
It is not unknown how long protection lasts from initial vaccination or how long a booster shot would protect people from the coronavirus.
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Unauthorized Boosters
Some Americans are getting unauthorized vaccine boosters due to fears of the surging delta variant and concerns over waning immunity over time. The CDC has warned that doing so undermines the CDC’s safety monitoring of recipients.
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What are your thoughts on boosters? Please share in the comments below.
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This post was previously published on Medium.
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