A key advisory committee to the FDA voted unanimously Thursday to recommend many recipients of the Moderna vaccine receive a booster shot.
The panel endorsed a half-dose as a third injection for people older than 65, as well as younger, high risk adults.
While regulators are not required to follow the panel’s recommendations, they usually do, the New York Times reports.
Committee members emphasized that the FDA set a precedent by authorizing a Pfizer booster.
“From a pragmatic point of view,” Dr. Stanley Perlman said, “because we’ve already approved it for Pfizer, I don’t see how we can possibly not approve it for Moderna.”
As previously reported by Human Events News, Johnson & Johnson applied for FDA emergency use authorization for its own booster shot, and the panel will vote Friday on the request. They will also hear about the initial results of an ongoing federal study that found J&J recipients may benefit more from a Pfizer or Moderna booster.
Later on Thursday, the committee will discuss whether to consider a larger range of people eligible for both Pfizer and Moderna boosters.
