Study says booster vaccine prevents severe cases 1:30
(CNN) --
Moderna announced Thursday that it has requested authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a second Covid-19 booster vaccine for everyone 18 and older.
Moderna is seeking a modification of the FDA's emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine to allow a fourth dose to any adult who has received an initial booster of any of the licensed or approved vaccines.
"The request to include adults over the age of 18 was made to provide flexibility for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and health care providers in determining the appropriate use of a booster dose additional mRNA-1273, including for increased risk of COVID-19 due to age or comorbidities," the company said in a news release.
"This presentation is based in part on recently published data generated in the United States and Israel after the appearance of omicron."
A fourth dose of the covid-19 vaccine will be needed, says the CEO of Pfizer, but the company is working on a version against all variants
Pfizer and BioNtech vaccine
On Tuesday, Pfizer and BioNTech, makers of the other covid-19 mRNA vaccine used in the US, submitted an emergency use application to the FDA for an additional booster of their vaccine, but that application was only for adults of 65 years and older.
A study of healthcare workers in Israel, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that a fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna covid-19 vaccine was safe and raised antibody levels similarly to which was observed after a third dose.
Some countries already offer fourth doses of vaccines against covid-19.
Currently, fourth doses of the vaccine are licensed in the US only for certain people with weakened immune systems.
advertising
The FDA has said it will convene its independent vaccine advisers, the Vaccines and Related Biologics Advisory Committee, in April "to have a transparent discussion about considerations for the 2022 booster vaccines, including whether those boosters may be necessary and when and for what populations, based on available data and the latest science on circulating or emerging virus variants."
No date has been set for the meeting.
Covid-19