ACIP voted to recommend booster doses for everyone 18 and older who received a first dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine at least two months earlier.
For those who received their second dose of Moderna’s vaccine at least six months earlier, ACIP recommended a third shot for those age 65 and over, as well as some individuals at risk or severe illness and those at high risk of exposure to the virus through their jobs.
Dr Helen Talbot, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University and a panel member, said she voted for the recommendation, but cautioned, “Moderna has very good vaccine efficacy. There will be some confusion with the higher versus lower dose.”
Booster doses of the Moderna vaccine will be 50 microgrammes, half the strength of the original shots.
“Those not at high risk should be really thoughtful about getting the higher dose. I do think we need to be very aware of potential complications.”
Experts said communicating those risks could be an issue, especially given the flexibility of allowing people to choose a different vaccine from their original series.
“At the end of the day, even that phrase ‘mix and match’ pretty much gives people the latitude to … do pretty much anything,” Glen Nowak, a risk communication professor at the University of Georgia and former communications director for CDC’s National Immunization Program said after the meeting. “I think that’s going to be an issue.”
The FDA and CDC previously signed off on booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE for the same groups included in the Moderna recommendations.
Pfizer released data on Thursday suggesting that a booster dose was highly protective for those age 16 and older compared with protection nearly a year after receiving the two-dose regimen due to waning efficacy over time.
About 11.6 million people have so far received a booster dose, according to data from the CDC.
The FDA and CDC have been under pressure to authorise the additional shots after the White House announced plans in August for a widespread booster campaign.
Other countries such as Israel have begun offering boosters to a broad population, but it is not yet known whether the United States will follow suit.
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