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Answers to Your Questions About Covid Booster Shots
Answers to Your Questions About Covid Booster Shots
(about 1 month later)
The Food and Drug Administration is considering expanding booster shots to certain people who received the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines and who may be more vulnerable to complications from Covid-19. Here are answers to some common questions.
Every adult in the United States is now eligible for a Covid vaccine booster shot, depending on how much time has passed since the original vaccination. Here are answers to some common questions.
The F.D.A. has authorized booster shots for a select group of people who received their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at least six months ago. Eligible people include Pfizer recipients who are 65 and older or who live in long-term care facilities. The agency also authorized boosters for adults who were at high risk of severe Covid-19 because of an underlying medical condition as well as for health care workers and others whose jobs put them at risk.
The F.D.A. has authorized booster shots for people 18 or older who received their second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines at least six months ago. People who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine are eligible for boosters just two months after their shot.
People with weakened immune systems who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines also are eligible for a third shot, at least four weeks after their second dose. For these patients, the third shot is not a booster dose but is now recommended because some people with compromised immune systems don’t generate a robust response after just two shots. About 3 percent of Americans are in this group for a variety of reasons, including those who received an organ transplant.
People with weakened immune systems who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines are also eligible for a third shot, at least four weeks after their second dose. For these patients, the third shot is not considered a booster dose but is the recommended regimen to spur a more robust immune response than achieved with just two shots.
An F.D.A. advisory panel has voted in favor of emergency authorization of a half-dose booster of Moderna vaccine, at least six months after the second dose. Those eligible would include Moderna recipients over 65 and other adults considered at high risk — the same groups eligible for a Pfizer-BioNTech booster.
No. The C.D.C. has changed its guidance and now says that all Americans over age 50, as well as adults living in long-term care facilities, “should” get booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines if it’s been six months since their second dose. Everyone who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is encouraged to get a booster, too.
The F.D.A. typically follows the panel’s advice, and it should rule within days. This week, a committee advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make its own recommendations. The C.D.C. is expected to rule quickly, and people in the eligible groups could begin seeking the shots soon afterward.
The C.D.C. didn’t make specific recommendations for people younger than 50, but all adults are now eligible to get a booster if they want an additional vaccine dose, and if six months have passed since they were fully vaccinated.
On Friday, the same expert committee voted unanimously in favor of authorizing booster shots for the roughly 15 million people who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Its members are also supposed to discuss a federal study that suggested that those Americans might be better off with a Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech booster.
Health departments, pharmacies and doctors’ offices will dispense booster shots in much the same way as they administered the first and second doses. Call ahead to find out about scheduling, and bring your vaccine card.
The C.D.C. has said the risk of complications from Covid-19 is highest for people with high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, cancer, chronic lung or kidney disease, heart disease, dementia and certain disabilities. You can find a complete list here; the agency may offer additional guidance in the coming days.
You can find more information on your state’s health department website or pharmacy websites. Most vaccine providers require an appointment, and demand appears to be increasing as people scramble to get their shots before the Thanksgiving holiday.
A C.D.C. scientific committee said that people over 50 with underlying medical concerns should receive boosters, but it advised people 18 to 49 with the conditions to make decisions based on their individual risk.
While Johnson & Johnson recipients and people who are severely immunocompromised can receive an additional shot sooner, everyone else should wait until at least six months after their second shot. Getting a booster too soon is probably a waste of a dose and may not increase your antibodies in a meaningful way. Vaccine providers will check your card and won’t give you the booster if enough time hasn’t passed since your last shot.
The category of immunocompromised people who are eligible for a third Pfizer or Moderna shot (technically not a booster dose) includes people who are undergoing cancer treatment; those who have received an organ or stem cell transplant and are taking medicine to suppress the immune system; people with primary immunodeficiency, or advanced or untreated H.I.V. infection; and people taking high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that suppress the immune response.
It appears that side effects after a booster shot are similar to those that occur after the two-dose series. Fatigue and pain at the injection site were the most commonly reported side effects, and overall, most symptoms were mild to moderate, the C.D.C. said. A survey from Israel, where booster shots are being given, found that 88 percent of Pfizer vaccine recipients said that in the days after their third dose, they felt “similar or better” compared with how they felt after their second shot. About a third of respondents reported some side effects, with the most common being soreness at the injection site, and 1 percent said they sought medical treatment because of one or more side effects.
The F.D.A. authorized booster doses for workers whose jobs put them at high risk of exposure to potentially infectious people. So far, that includes health care workers, teachers and day care staff, grocery workers, transit and postal workers and people who work in homeless shelters or prisons
Yes. The Food and Drug Administration recently authorized a mix-and-match booster shot strategy that now allows eligible adults to pick a booster from one of three Covid-19 vaccines — Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson — even if it’s different from the one they initially received. You can learn more about the mix and match strategy here.
Health departments, pharmacies and doctors’ offices will dispense boosters in much the same way as they administered the first and second doses. Call ahead to find out about scheduling, and bring your vaccine card. Proof of an underlying medical condition won’t be required, but you may want to discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor.
You can find more information on your state’s health department website or pharmacy websites. People who are immunocompromised also can talk to their physicians about the best way to get a third shot. Since the F.D.A. fully approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as a two-dose regimen last month, physicians have had broad latitude to prescribe a third dose to people they deem in need of one.
While people who are severely immunocompromised can receive a third shot sooner, everyone else who qualifies should wait until at least six months after their second shot. In addition to a lack of safety data, getting a booster too soon is probably a waste of a dose and may not increase your antibodies in a meaningful way.
The F.D.A. vaccine advisory panel recommended that people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine get a booster shot two months after their first dose.
While the Biden administration has said it supports booster shots for everyone who is eight months post-vaccination, F.D.A. scientists have rejected the plan. But the recommendation could change in the coming weeks or months as more data becomes available on the durability of vaccine antibodies over time. The good news is that the consensus in the scientific community is that all the vaccines continue to provide strong protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death from Covid-19.
While data are limited, so far reactions reported after the third mRNA dose from Pfizer or Moderna were similar to those of the two-dose series. Fatigue and pain at the injection site were the most commonly reported side effects, and overall, most symptoms were mild to moderate, the C.D.C. said. A survey from Israel, where booster shots are being given, found that 88 percent of Pfizer vaccine recipients said that in the days after the third dose, they felt “similar or better” to how they felt after the second shot. About a third of respondents reported some side effects, with the most common being soreness at the injection site, and 1 percent said they sought medical treatment because of one or more side effects.
The F.D.A. panel is reviewing new research on mixing vaccine booster shots, but the practice is not yet recommended. For now, Pfizer vaccine recipients are advised to get a Pfizer booster shot, and Moderna and Johnson & Johnson recipients should wait until booster doses are approved for their manufacturer’s vaccine or the C. D.C gives additional guidance.
Some people who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are seeking a Pfizer booster shot on their own. San Francisco health officials have said that they will accommodate these requests as long as people consult their doctors first.
Sharon LaFraniere and Noah Weiland contributed reporting.
Read more:A C.D.C. Panel Recommends Booster Shots for Many Americans
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