FDA OKs Mixing COVID Vaccines for Booster Shots, But Can You and Should You Do It?
U.S. regulators on Wednesday said anyone eligible for a COVID vaccine booster shot can get a brand different from the one they received initially.
The move was a key step in the federal push to broaden booster access for the U.S. public. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guided by its advisory panel, still needs to provide the final blessing.
Influential government advisers are deciding Thursday how best to expand the nation's COVID-19 booster campaign, including whether and when it's OK to “mix and match” brands for the extra dose.
Here's what you should know:
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The FDA opened the way for anyone eligible for a booster to get any of the country's three authorized brands for their extra dose. The FDA stressed the practicality of being able to get whatever booster a particular pharmacy or clinic is offering, particularly in nursing homes and other institutional settings where residents have received different shots over time.
The interchangeability of the shots is expected to speed the booster campaign.
FDA's acting commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said the agency wanted to make its booster guidance as flexible as possible, given that many people don't remember which brand they first received. In other cases, some people may want to try a different vaccine if they previously experienced common side effects like muscle ache or chills.
Still, regulators said it's likely many people will stick with the same vaccine brand.
The decision was based on preliminary results from a government study of different booster combinations that showed an extra dose of any type revs up levels of virus-fighting antibodies. That study also showed recipients of the single-dose J&J vaccination had a far bigger response if they got a full-strength Moderna booster or a Pfizer booster rather than a second J&J shot. The study didn't test the half-dose Moderna booster.
Already, guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised that mixing and matching booster shots for immunocompromised individuals, particularly those who received mRNA vaccines, was allowed in some situations.
"For people who received either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine series, a third dose of the same mRNA vaccine should be used. A person should not receive more than three mRNA vaccine doses," the CDC's website states. "If the mRNA vaccine product given for the first two doses is not available or is unknown, either mRNA COVID-19 vaccine product may be administered."
More guidance is expected following Thursday's meeting.
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October 22, 2021 at 01:55AM
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FDA OKs Mixing COVID Vaccines for Booster Shots, But Can You and Should You Do It? - NBC Chicago
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