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Experts vote on Moderna and J&J booster doses. Are they necessary?

2021-10-14T14:39:12.081Z


An expert panel advising the FDA is scheduled to vote this Thursday on whether to recommend the authorization of a third injection for people vaccinated with Moderna.


A panel of independent advisers from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will decide this Thursday whether it considers that a

third dose of the vaccine from the pharmaceutical company Moderna

is necessary to strengthen protection against the coronavirus.

On Friday he will discuss the

Johnson & Johnson vaccine booster dose

.

Although the FDA is not required to follow the panel's recommendations, it usually does.

Moderna did not argue in documents released Tuesday that its vaccine requires a booster to prevent severe illness or hospitalization, but did warn that it would help prevent infection and mild or moderate illness.

Moderna's vaccine has been shown to be more effective in preventing hospitalizations than Pfizer's, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For this reason, it is expected that at least some members of the panel will be reluctant to recommend an additional dose.

"Maybe we should wait a little longer with Moderna and let it lower [the protection] further before reinforcing it,"

Dr. Peter J. Hotez, a vaccine expert at Baylor School of Medicine, told The New York Times.

Nursing assistant Shyrel Ritter receives her COVID-19 booster shot at her workplace in New York Seth Wenig / AP

In the case of Johnson & Johnson, some experts anticipate that the FDA will authorize the booster doses as the efficacy of this single-dose vaccine is lower than that of the two-dose mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer.

In addition, according to a study prepared by the National Institutes of Health, and published this Wednesday, it is safe and effective to mix doses of different vaccines, so it is in question whether the second dose should also be from Johnson & Johnson or another of the two vaccines (Moderna or Pfizer).

The study found that

people immunized with Johnson & Johnson produced higher antibody levels

after receiving a

booster dose manufactured by Moderna or Pfizer,

compared to a booster dose from the same pharmaceutical company.

For Scott Hensley, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study, the results are convincing:

"People who have Johnson & Johnson should probably receive an mRNA boost," he

said in an interview with the aforementioned media.

"Mandates are working," Senator Roland Gutiérrez says of vaccination in Texas

Oct. 14, 202107: 12

"It's just a matter of how much data the FDA needs before making that recommendation, he added," I wouldn't want to be in their place.

Federal medical authorities have already authorized the booster dose of Pfizer's vaccine for the

elderly,

vulnerable people and workers at risk.

Pfizer and Moderna have supplied the vast majority of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States.

More than 170 million people are fully immunized with the two doses of these pharmaceuticals, and less than 15 million received the one from Johnson & Johnson.

The CDC advisory committee will decide on the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson booster doses next week.

If both the FDA and CDC vote in favor, they could be available next week.

With information from The Associated Press.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2021-10-14

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