FDA Shortens Interval for Moderna Covid Booster to 5 Months

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. regulators amended the emergency authorization for Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine to allow Americans to get a booster shot five months after receiving the initial first two shots. 

The decision by the Food and Drug Administration echoes a similar move it made earlier this week to reduce the recommended interval between the second and third doses of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE vaccine for all adults to five months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also added its recommendation to the timeline. 

“Now all Americans who are age 18 and above should get a booster with Moderna at five months,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said on a call with reporters. 

Friday’s action brings consistency in the timing for administration of a booster dose among the available messenger RNA vaccines, said Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

“Vaccination is our best defense against Covid-19, including the circulating variants, and shortening the length of time between completion of a primary series and a booster dose may help reduce waning immunity,” he said in a statement. 

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