WOCHD Notice on J&J And Moderna COVID-19 Boosters

On Thursday, October 14^th the Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee recommended the emergency use authorization of a booster dose of the Moderna vaccine six months after full vaccination in people 65 and older, and with individuals 18 – 64 years of age who are at high risk of severe COVID-19.

On Friday, October 15^th the FDA advisory committee also recommended a booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine at least two months after people aged 18 and older receive the first dose.

The next steps are for the FDA to offer a final recommendation to CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) when they meet on Oct. 20^th and 21^st.

Once the ACIP provides their guidance and the Wes Virginia Bureau for Public Health accepts the new recommendations, we expect that the administration of both these booster vaccines could start as soon as Oct. 22, 2021 at the Community Vaccination Center at the Highlands.

The COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the United States continue to be remarkably effective in reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even against the widely circulating Delta variant. It is critical that unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people get their primary series of vaccines to further reduce the risk of COVID-19 and its more severe outcomes. Nearly all the cases of severe disease, hospitalization, and death continue to occur among those not yet vaccinated at all.