WASHINGTON Jan. 8 (BUS) – US regulators on Friday cut the time people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna have to wait for a booster dose — to five months instead of six, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Moderna’s two-dose vaccine is open to Americans 18 years of age and older. Friday’s FDA decision means Moderna recipients are eligible for a booster dose after at least five months have passed since their last dose.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agreed.
This is in line with new recommendations for recipients of the Pfizer vaccine. Pfizer’s primary vaccinations are open to anyone 5 years of age or older.
But only Pfizer recipients age 12 or older are eligible for the boosters, and earlier this week, US health authorities said they could get one five months after their last shot.
In a statement, the Food and Drug Administration’s head of vaccines, Dr. Peter Marks, called vaccination “our best defense against COVID-19” and said a shorter waiting period for a booster may help as the country battles a wave of the highly contagious omicron variant.
A booster dose is actually recommended after receiving a single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine after two months.
AOQ