Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration will meet today to discuss Johnson & Johnson’s application for a booster dose of its single-dose Janssen vaccine for people 18 and older.
Members of the Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee are expected to vote on boosters for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and will hear a presentation on mix-and-match vaccines.
The FDA’s committee of independent advisers typically discusses and makes recommendations to the agency around vaccine authorizations and approvals, and the agency then makes the final decision about whether to OK a vaccine.
Some background: On Thursday, the committee unanimously recommended a half-sized booster dose of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for certain people who are 6 months out from their primary two-dose series of vaccine: those 65 and older, people 18 and older at high risk of severe disease, and people 18 and older at high risk of severe disease for occupational or institutional reasons.
If the FDA gives emergency use authorization to Moderna boosters, vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet to discuss which groups to recommend them to. Typically, shots can be administered once the CDC director signs off on the recommendation.
CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is already scheduled to meet to discuss boosters from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET next Wednesday and Thursday.
