FDA Panel Unanimously Votes To Recommend J&J’s COVID Vaccine Booster Shot

Now that the talk of COVID-19 Vaccine booster shots is on the rise, independent panels for the Food and Drug Administration are voting to recommend or not recommend them.

On Friday, an independent FDA advisory committee unanimously voted to recommend Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, Complex reported.

CNBC reports that the panel recommends booster doses to everyone 18 and over who has already got their first shot at least two months after the initial shot.

“I’m inclined to just consider this a two-dose vaccine. That’s how it should probably go forward,” said committee member Dr. Michael Kurilla, who is an infectious disease expert with the National Institutes of Health.

The FDA is expected to make a final decision within the next coming days. The next step will be for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet to decide who should get booster shots and when.

Less than a month ago, the company released information that showed booster shots helped those who had received the first dose an added protection from the virus.

“A single-shot COVID-19 vaccine that is easy to use, distribute, and administer, and that provides strong and long-lasting protection is crucial to vaccinating the global population,” Paul Stoffels, who serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee at J&J, said in September.

“At the same time, we now have generated evidence that a booster shot further increases protection against COVID-19 and is expected to extend the duration of protection significantly.”