FDA Advisors Recommend Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 Vaccine Booster Dose
J & J’s vaccine is the only vaccine approved in the US that only requires one dose.
Photo: Matthew Hatcher / Getty Images
Vaccine advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted unanimously Friday to recommend a booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine at least two months after people receive the first dose.
FDA’s Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Biologics voted 19-0 to recommend the additional dose for all recipients of the vaccine. J&J Janssen vaccine, over 18 years.
The FDA will now consider the advice of this committee. Then, vaccine advisers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be asked to consider it.
Johnson & Johnson says studies have shown that booster doses two to six months after the first dose can bring that effectiveness up to 94% and says its effectiveness does not diminish over time, with results similar to those of the Pfizer vaccine.
The FDA approved a Pfizer booster vaccine for people who have six months of their first two injections and who are also 65 years of age or older, or who are at least 18 years old and have an increased risk of serious illness due to pre-existing conditions or working or living conditions.
Americans are already flocking to get those Covid-19 vaccine boosters.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that about 5% of fully vaccinated people, about 9 million people, have received booster shots.
If the FDA grants an emergency use authorization to the Covid-19 vaccines reinforcements Modernay Johnson & Johnson, CDC vaccine advisers will meet to discuss which groups to recommend them to.
Vaccines can usually be administered after the CDC director approves the recommendation. CDC’s Immunization Practices Advisory Committee is scheduled to discuss FDA-recommended vaccine boosters on October 21.
