Last week the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authorized extra doses (or boosters) of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, just weeks after the Pfizer booster was authorized, allowing nearly 100 million people in the US to receive a COVID-19 booster shot. What also came from the authorization was that fully vaccinated individuals can mix and match manufacturers for their booster doses; meaning if you received the Moderna course, you can then receive either the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson booster.
The FDA's decision to allow for mixing-and-matching booster shots was based in part on early data from trials led by the National Institutes of Health which suggest all combinations of so-called "heterologous" boosting are safe and effective at increasing protection.
As of now, just over 11 million people across the country have already received their booster shots, and the recent approvals for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson open the doors even more, but not everyone is eligible. Here’s what we know so far:
Pfizer-BioNTech And Moderna
More than 47 million Pfizer vaccine recipients who received both shots at least six months ago became eligible for a booster last week, according to data presented before the CDC’s advisory committee. And more than 39.1 million Moderna vaccine recipients who received both shots at least six months ago also became eligible for a booster. The CDC adopted the same criteria for Moderna recipients as Pfizer since the two companies use the same mRNA technology in their COVID vaccines. They include:
Anyone 65 and older.
All adults aged 18 to 64 who have cancer, dementia, diabetes, heart disease, HIV, or other medical conditions that increase their likelihood of COVID-19 complications.
Anyone 18 or older who live or work in a long-term care facility, homeless shelter, and/or a prison.
Front-line personnel 18 or older who are at a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure due to their job, occupations such as: first responders, teachers, supermarket staff, and public transit employees.
Johnson & Johnson
The CDC adopted a slightly different criteria for J&J’s one-shot Covid vaccine, making almost 13 million recipients eligible as of Friday. That includes:
All adults who were vaccinated with J&J’s Covid vaccine at least two months ago, instead of six months with Pfizer and Moderna.
All adult J&J recipients are eligible for a booster even if they don’t have underlying medical conditions or work in a profession or live where there’s a higher risk of Covid.
FDA and CDC officials say they could further expand eligibility for booster shots soon as authorities gather more data on the need and potential risks. "There is evidence to suggest potentially that lowering the age of those eligible for boosters may make sense in the future. Something we're looking at closely," Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA's top vaccines official, told reporters last week.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/p1021-covid-booster.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html
About the Author: Taylor Genter
Taylor is the Marketing Specialist at Extract with experience in data analytics, graphic design, and both digital and social media marketing. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. Taylor enjoys analyzing people’s behaviors and attitudes to find out what motivates them, and then curating better ways to communicate with them.