FDA OKs additional COVID-19 booster for people aged 50 and up
New England Council member, Pfizer, along with Moderna has received the go-ahead from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to administer an additional COVID-19 booster shot to adults ages 50 and up.
The additional booster is designed to be administered at least four months after the previous booster dose and is the same strength as previous doses. The FDA’s approval of this additional booster follows Pfizer’s presentation of data that showed a decline in vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 three to six months after the initial booster shot, and evidence from 700,000 Israelis showing that an additional dose “provides better protection against severe disease and death.”
When speaking on COVID-19 and booster doses, Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, stated, “Current evidence suggests 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.”
The New England Council commends Pfizer for its COVID-19 research and its work to protect high-risk individuals from contracting the coronavirus.
Read more from the Boston Herald.