March 29, 2024
CDC chimes in on Moderna and J&J Covid-19 Boosters, mixing and matching
WASHINGTON - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky is recommending Covid-19 booster shots from Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson and backing mixing vaccines with a different booster dose.

With Dr. Walensky’s greenlight Thursday, the vaccine doses can now become available at doctor’s offices, pharmacies and vaccination sites on Friday, a CDC spokeswoman said.
It follows unanimous recommendations from a panel of experts advising the CDC.

"From a public health perspective, there’s a clear need in some situations for individuals to receive a different vaccine," Dr. Amanda Cohn, chief medical officer on the CDC’s Covid-19 Vaccine Task Force, said during last Friday’s FDA advisory committee meeting.

Cohn gave the example of a women in her 30s who may have received the Johnson & Johnson shot before it was discovered the vaccine was linked to a small but increased risk for rare blood clots. A mix-and-match approach would allow that woman, Cohn said, to choose a different type of vaccine for her booster.

It could also make it easier to administer boosters in places such as long-term care facilities. "It would allow a pharmacy to go into a nursing home and only have a single vaccine product to boost individuals who received either Moderna or Pfizer" or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Cohn said.

Last week, the National Institutes of Health released a study finding that mixing and matching vaccines was safe and effective, with any combination leading to higher antibody levels. The study also suggested that Johnson & Johnson recipients could particularly benefit from a boost with an mRNA vaccine: Giving either a Pfizer or Moderna booster to a person who previously received Johnson & Johnson increased a person's antibody response 50-fold.

The FDA’s action didn’t include a recommendation for any particular combination of boosters, even though the NIH data presented last week showed that extra mRNA doses sparked a stronger antibody response than a second Johnson & Johnson dose. At a Wednesday press briefing, Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said the agency wouldn’t commit to any particular combination until there was additional data showing which was the most effective.

New authorizations
For people who initially got Moderna, a booster dose is now authorized for adults ages 65 and up, people living in long-term care facilities and adults with underlying medical conditions or who are at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus because of their job. Such people would be eligible at least six months after their second shot.

For people who initially got Johnson & Johnson, a booster is authorized for all adults 18 and up at least two months after their first dose.

The booster that they receive does not need to match the original vaccine type.
Story Date: October 22, 2021
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