CDC panel unanimously endorses Moderna and J&J Covid boosters, sending to director
Source: CNBC
An influential Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee on Thursday unanimously recommended boosters of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccines, sending it to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky for final approval. The agency's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting recommended the Moderna booster for elderly people and at-risk adults six months after they complete their primary series of shots, bringing it in line with the distribution plan for Pfizer and BioNTech's booster.
It also endorsed J&J boosters for everyone 18 and older who received the initial shot at least two months ago. More than 39 million Moderna recipients and nearly 13 million J&J recipients may be eligible for a booster dose as early as Friday, according to a slide presented by the CDC during the meeting. Booster shots have been a contentious topic for scientists — in and outside the government — especially as many people in the U.S. and other parts of the world have yet to receive even one dose of a vaccine.
The World Health Organization has pleaded with wealthy countries to hold off on distributing boosters, and some scientists say they aren't convinced most Americans need them right now. Before the vote, some members said they were concerned about the lack of data on boosters, while others asked the agency if they could simplify the messaging on who is eligible to get the extra doses.
"These recommendations are in some ways asking the individual to decide on their underlying risk and medical condition, because the reality is they're not consulting with their physicians in all cases; they're just going out and getting booster doses," said member Dr. Jason Goldman. "And I worry that if it's too prescriptive or if it's too wordy, we are either going to miss the ability to give people boosters who really should be getting it, or people are just doing it anyway and not necessarily having the support of the language to do it," he added.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/21/cdc-panel-unanimously-endorses-moderna-covid-booster-shots-for-same-groups-as-pfizers.html
Full headline: CDC panel unanimously endorses Moderna and J&J Covid boosters, sending to director for final approval
This was the (somewhat generic) policy and recommendations set of questions that were discussed and voted on. Note that in this case, Moderna is now lumped under "mRNA vaccines" with Pfizer in question #1 -
So if you get either of the mRNA, you would be authorized for a booster after 6 months and if you got Janssen, you would be authorized for a booster after 2 months (both of these upon CDC Director approval).
= new reply since forum marked as read
because there was some wild discussion earlier in the session about a potential *for severely immuno-compromised people* of getting 4 shots. I.e., a "3-dose primary series" (instead of a normal "2-dose primary series" ) + a booster dose. 
transplant patients, those who have had cancer treatments (which is actually quite a few), people like my sis who has severe RA (she just had a hip replacement last week and gets an immuno-suppressant infusion every 6 weeks), and I expect people who have HIV, etc.
So correct, it's not a very large population, but it's also not insignificant number of people either.
They have noted that there is currently a slow uptake of boosters by those who are eligible, so since it was such an effort just to get people where they are with being "full vaccinated" (by FDA/CDC underscored definition - "2-dose series" of Pfizer or Moderna and "1-dose" of Janssen), it'll now be up to person (and/or with guidance of their healthcare provider) whether to go beyond that (and that might not amount to that much in the end). We saw what happened with Colin Powell and with his co-morbidities, one would wonder if a 4th dose might have helped any.
