FDA to allow booster shots of Moderna and Janssen vaccines

The New York Times reported on Monday (local time) that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planning to allow Americans to receive a different Covid-19 vaccine as a booster from the one they initially received.

According to The New York Times, the FDA is expected to authorize boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines by Wednesday evening. The agency authorized booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine last month. The FDA plans to allow the mix-and-match approach to booster shots. However, using the same vaccine as a booster when possible is preferable, said The New York Times.

According to the study conducted by the National Institutes of Health, the recipients of Janssen’s single-dose shot who received a Moderna booster saw their antibody levels rise 75-fold in 15 days, compared with only a fourfold increase after an extra dose of Janssen. The combination of Janssen and Pfizer produced less incremental antibodies than the combination of Janssen and Moderna but more than the Janssen and Janssen combination.

Just over 15 million people have been vaccinated with Janssen’s vaccine, compared with 69.5 million for Moderna’s and 104.5 million with Pfizer’s. Experts have pointed out a potential supply shortage in case of limiting booster shots to the same ones initially received due to differences in each manufacturer’s vaccine production volume and capacity.


Eun-Taek Lee nabi@donga.com