SILVER SPRING, Maryland – The US Food and Drug Administration intends to allow Americans to receive the COVID-19 booster shots from other approved vaccines apart from their original dose.
The US FDA intends to announce its plans on Wednesday as part of its goal to increase flexibility as the government tries to increase the vaccination rates in the country.
Although the Food and Drug Administration does not favor one vaccine over the other, it is preferable to use the vaccine from the original vaccine as much as possible. However, the government provided more flexibility for Americans to choose the vaccine they were most comfortable with.
Last month, the FDA cleared the implementation of the Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot. The administration is also deliberating on the booster shots of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. These vaccines could be a sign for the FDA to permit the mixing and matching of COVID-19 booster shots officially.
The FDA advisory committee is also looking at the findings from the National Institutes of Health about the viability of mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines.
The National Institutes of Health showed that the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines dramatically increased antibodies after the first 15 days.
The Moderna booster shots also provide higher antibody levels than Pfizer’s third dose. However, the National Institutes of Health asserted that these findings do not confirm that any vaccine is better than the other.
