CDC signs off on Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

Tens of millions of Americans can sign up to get Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters beginning Friday after the nation’s top public health official endorsed recommendations from expert advisers that the shots are safe and effective at bolstering protection against the coronavirus. The green light from Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, means that nearly 100 million Americans at risk of severe disease can choose any of the three boosters now authorized in the United States regardless of their original shot.

“These recommendations are another example of our fundamental commitment to protect as many people as possible from covid19,” Walensky said in a statement Thursday night several hours after receiving unanimous recommendations by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. “The evidence shows that all three covid19 vaccines authorized in the United States are safe — as demonstrated by the over 400 million vaccine doses already given. And, they are all highly effective in reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even in the midst of the widely circulating delta variant.”

Walensky’s action — following a green light Wednesday from federal regulators — largely fulfills the administration’s August promise to make boosters of all three vaccines available to Americans, albeit a month later than promised and for a smaller group. The administration’s focus on boosters came as the highly contagious delta variant sickened millions and killed tens of thousands, and also reflected concern about waning immunity from the vaccines.

CDC’s sign-off on the additional boosters as well as the flexibility to mix and match the shots gives greater leeway to consumers, as well as to clinicians and pharmacies administering them to vulnerable populations. Health officials have repeatedly sought ways to make it easier for people to get another dose, especially those who have had side effects from one brand, or who worry about risks associated with a particular shot.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/21/cdc-moderna-jj-booster-recommendation/

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Full headline: CDC signs off on Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters and says people can get a shot different from their original one

That's the final check-off for booster & mix/match approval.

[turbinetree]

1. Well now I can go to my doc's office or the pharmacy....

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Yuppers

I gotta go make an appointment somewhere (probably the place I originally got my shot since I got Moderna and that isn't as common around here) and see if I can get a flu shot at the same time).

Today is literally my "6 months" date (I got a text from V-Safe yesterday to get a 6-month post-2nd dose check-in update).

[turbinetree]

4. Got the J&J at the end of March, so I had to go down to the M&T stadium to get back then

I am now told that I can just go to the pharma cy or the docs office...

[orleans]

5. are you doing the mix & match?

i got j&j and think i want moderna booster

Advisers to the CDC suggested in their all-day meeting Thursday that mixing and matching booster shots may appeal to consumers concerned about possible risks associated with their first vaccine.

“A lot of what our efforts are centered around is trying to mitigate risk as much as possible, both from disease as well as vaccination,” said Grace Lee, a professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine and chair of the panel.

More data on the safety of booster shots for specific groups may help determine “whether or not a different boost would be appropriate, for example, for young women” who first received Johnson & Johnson, Lee added.

Some panel members questioned the wisdom of administering a second Johnson & Johnson shot to women of childbearing age, for instance, because of rare but serious risk of blood clots associated with that vaccine. Analyses of data for those who have received that shot suggest an increased risk of a rare type of clot, especially for women 18 to 49 years old.

from the wapo link in op

[turbinetree]

8. My inclination is to speak with my primary care doc and then let her advise

me.
I am leaning towards the Moderna and to ask her which booster has the longest longevity before having to get another booster which will happen in all likelihood into the future, like the current flue shots prgrams.

[JohnnyRingo]

3. I got my Moderna Booster Wednesday

....at dialysis.
Guess I was near the front of that line.

[orleans]

6. thank you for posting this! here is a bit more of article

for those running into a paywall

The availability of boosters will be particularly welcome to the 15 million recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, many of whom have been particularly fearful of breakthrough infections given that shot’s lower level of protection compared with the messenger RNA vaccines.

“I agree that those who received a [Johnson & Johnson] vaccine should receive a second dose — I would prefer that those individuals get an mRNA vaccine” rather than a second Johnson & Johnson shot, said advisory panel member Pablo J. Sanchez, a pediatrician at Ohio State University.

The CDC plans to release guidance early next week with more detailed information about who might benefit from choosing one booster over another, as the panel requested. CDC advisers and agency officials are still working out whether to recommend that some people stick to their original vaccine if possible.

The advisory panel’s recommendation was similar to Wednesday’s action by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA did not take a position on whether people should stay with the original vaccine or switch to another one, saying it did not have the data to make such judgments.

The FDA has authorized a third shot of Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech for anyone 65 and older, or any adults at high risk of severe illness because of underlying conditions, job exposure or because they are in institutional settings, and who have gone at least six months since their second dose.

It broadened eligibility much further for those who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine to anyone 18 and older who has gone at least two months since getting the shot — criteria reflecting the lower protection afforded by that vaccine compared with the others.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/21/cdc-moderna-jj-booster-recommendation/
so if you're over 18, got the j&j at least two months ago then that's all you need to qualify for a booster (and that would be a booster of your choice -- from what i'm reading)

[BumRushDaShow]

7. WaPo has been allowing "free access" for some of the coronavirus stories

The Washington Post is providing this news free to all readers as a public service.

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I listened to the meeting all day yesterday and posted the LBN OP for the ACIP recommendations - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142816144

From slide decks presented yesterday, here were some critical ones -



In the below, the 1st column is the "primary series" of 2 doses for the mRNAs and 1 for Janssen (J&J), where completing what is listed for the selected vaccine in the 1st column = "fully vaccinated". The other columns are then options for different types/levels of boosters.




Some of the things they will be working out (mainly for physician edification) is how to work the doses. For example, some time during the discussion, there was mention of potentially have your most vulnerable get a "3-dose series" (full dose/mRNA) and a "4th (full) dose" as a booster, which had be like (I could hear a couple of the Committee members react similarly ).