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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday authorized the second booster dose of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines for those over 50 years of age and some immunocompromised individuals. With this announcement, citizens would receive a total of 4 injections against the disease.
The agency explained that the second booster vaccine can begin to be administered four months after the first one. The agency detailed that a second booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine may also be administered to persons 12 years of age and older with certain types of immunosuppression.
The FDA explained that it made the decision because of evidence suggesting “some waning of protection over time against serious outcomes from COVID-19 in older and immunocompromised individuals.”
“Based on an analysis of emerging data, a second booster dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine could help increase protection levels for these higher-risk individuals,” said Peter Marks, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
The COVID-19 booster shot
Marks called on citizens to inject the booster dose. “The data show that an initial booster dose is critical to help protect all adults from the potentially serious consequences of COVID-19. Therefore, those who have not received an initial booster dose are strongly encouraged to receive one.”
The decision comes at a time when, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 65.5% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated and, of those, 29.5% have received booster doses.
Marks called on citizens to consider a booster dose: “The data show that an initial booster dose is critical in helping to protect all adults from the potentially severe outcomes of COVID-19. So, those who have not received their initial booster dose are strongly encouraged to do so.”
The decision comes at a time when, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 65.5% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated and, of those, 29.5% have received booster doses.
