FDA finally approved second booster vaccine shots of Moderna and Pfizer to older individuals, especially those over 50 years old.
Vials of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine are seen during a vaccination clinic at the Sir Ludwig Guttmann Health and Wellbeing Centre on December 15, 2020 in Stratford, England. After rolling out the vaccine to dozens of "hub" hospitals last week, the NHS is now enlisting several hundred primary care practices in its covid-19 vaccination campaign.
Aside from them, certain immunocompromised people are also allowed to have their second boosters. The decision, although more than half of the eligible individuals for first vaccine booster shots, still haven't received theirs.
"This action will now make a second booster dose of these vaccines available to other populations at higher risk for severe disease, hospitalization, and death," said the Food and Drug Administration via its official immediate release report.
FDA Approves Moderna, Pfizer 2nd Booster Vaccine Shots
According to NBC News' latest report, only less than a half of booster-eligible individuals were able to receive their first additional vaccine shots.
People walk by the Pfizer world headquarters in New York on November 9, 2020. - Pfizer stock surged higher on November 9, 2020 prior to the opening of Wall Street trading after the company announced its vaccine is "90 percent effective" against Covid-19 infections. The news cheered markets worldwide, especially as coronavirus cases are spiking, forcing millions of people back into lockdown.
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Some U.S. officials said that persuading people to have their second booster vaccine shots may be hard, saying that they don't see the urgency because hospitalizations and deaths now remain low.
Although this is the case, FDA still pushed its decision to allow second Moderna and Pfizer vaccine shots for older individuals and immunocompromised people.
The health agency said that people over 50s could receive theirs four months after receiving their first COVID-19 vaccine shots.
This also goes to younger people. But why did FDA suddenly announce this decision?
Why is a 2nd Booster Vaccine Dose Needed?
FDA explained that COVID-19 vaccines' efficacy wanes over time. New data shows that this usually happens in older and immunocompromised individuals.
Now, an analysis of emerging health data highly suggests that a second vaccine booster dose is needed to ensure that the efficiency provided by the first vaccine booster shots will be retained.
This detail was shared by FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation Research's Director Dr. Peter Marks.
In other news, free COVID-19 antiviral pills were confirmed to be rolled out in the United States.
Last month, the Biden Admin's free COVID-19 rapid test kits were still available since millions of units were unused.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
