Federal health officials plan to allow clinicians to mix or match vaccines when administering COVID-19 booster shots, an investigation finds.
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve boosters with the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines this week. When it does so, any of the three U.S.-approved COVID-19 vaccines will be fair game for adults who are eligible for an additional shot, sources told the New York Times.
The Biden Administration’s goal is to expand the number of Americans eligible for additional shots, according to the news outlet. In the long-term care industry, residents and staff who originally received a Pfizer shot already are eligible in most cases for a booster, but some of those who originally got a J&J or Moderna jab have remained in limbo, as their care providers wait for direction from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A mix-and-match approval may reduce the desirability of J&J’s single shot, which uses a different and somewhat less effective technology than its mRNA technology competitors, multiple observers have predicted.
