Reuters
- The FDA is expected to allow a "mix-and-match" approach for COVID-19 booster shots, The New York Times reported.
- The authorization will allow Americans to get a different brand booster than what they initially received.
- It will not recommend one brand over another but may mention it is preferable to receive the same brand, The Times reported.
The Food and Drug Administration is set to authorize a "mix-and-match" approach for Americans seeking booster shots, allowing Americans to receive a different brand of COVID-19 vaccine as a booster than the one they initially received, The New York Times reported Monday.
People familiar with the planning told The Times that the agency will not recommend one brand over another when announcing the new approach, though it may mention that getting the same brand for the booster shot is preferable, according to The Times report.
Last month, the FDA authorized booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at least six months after the second dose. The agency is expected to authorize booster shots of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines by Wednesday evening, according to The Times report.
The FDA's expected authorization comes after the first major US study was released earlier this month to test using different boosters of Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 shot than the one initially received.
Results showed the "mix-and-match" method could be safely done. Boosting J&J with Moderna or Pfizer may initially prompt a stronger immune response, Insider's Hilary Brueck and Andrew Dunn reported.
"What the study shows is that regardless of what an individual received originally, getting boosted with one of the three vaccines that we evaluated, the one from Moderna, the one from Janssen, the one from Pfizer, led to good antibody responses in each of the groups," lead study author Dr. Robert Atmar from Baylor College of Medicine told Insider.