CDC vaccine advisers vote to recommend booster doses of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines

By Maggie Fox, CNN

(CNN) -- Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted on Thursday to recommend booster doses of both Moderna's and Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines.

The CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices accepted the US Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorizations for each vaccine -- after considerable discussion about whether such broad authorization was needed for Moderna's. Members broadly agreed that people who got Johnson & Johnson's vaccine need a second vaccination, as that vaccine is less effective than Moderna's and Pfizer's in preventing infection.

It will now be up to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky to accept or modify the committee's recommendation. The CDC will also issue detailed clinical guidance spelling out what people should consider in seeking out and getting booster shots. This will include whether people may mix and match vaccines.

The FDA gave emergency use authorization Wednesday for booster doses of Moderna's and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccines. The FDA also authorized a mix and match approach -- saying people could get any vaccine as a booster, regardless of which vaccine they got for the initial immunization.

The FDA'S EUA covers Moderna recipients who were vaccinated at least six months ago or longer, who are 65 or older or who are 18 or older and at high risk of severe coronavirus infection because of a medical condition or because of working or living conditions -- medical staff, for instance. That's the same as the existing EUA for Pfizer's vaccine. The EUA for the Janssen vaccine is for anyone who got that vaccine two months ago or longer.

ACIP modified its interim recommendation to use the same language to cover Moderna's and Pfizer's vaccines jointly.

The-CNN-Wire
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