Authorization of Second Booster Vaccine Expected This Week

UPDATE: The U.S. FDA has authorized second COVID-19 booster vaccines for adults age 50 and older as early as four months after their initial booster shots. Read the March 29 FDA announcement.

Employers allowing workers to take time off for COVID-19 vaccines may notice additional requests from some of their employees in the coming weeks. Later this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are expected to give adults age 50 and up the option of receiving a second COVID-19 vaccine booster, CNN reports.

The agencies will give a permissive recommendation for the boosters, which means they won’t officially recommend the vaccines, but will authorize them for the people who want them. The additional boosters will be a fourth dose of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines

The permissive recommendation simply legitimizes what many Americans are doing anyway. Anyone who wants a fourth dose can go to a pharmacy and receive one if they say they are immunocompromised. However, medical authorities have differing opinions on whether a fourth dose is needed.

Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist who is director of the Scripps Translational Research Institute in California, said research from Israel found people over age 60 who received a second booster experienced enhanced protection over severe illness from COVID-19 three months out, compared to those who received one booster. However, Dr. Eric Rubin, editor in chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, said he hadn’t yet seen enough data on fourth doses to determine whether they are needed for anyone beyond those who are severely immune deficient.