The Food and Drug Administration gave its stamp of approval to new COVID-19 vaccine booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna which are designed to target the latest variant of the virus.
The shots could be publicly available later in the week pending approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The vaccine can be taken by anyone ages five and older – regardless of if they have been previously vaccinated. Children between six months and four years old who have been previously vaccinated can receive one or two doses of the vaccine.
“Vaccination remains critical to public health and continued protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a Sept. 11 press release. “The public can be assured that these updated vaccines have met the agency’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. We very much encourage those who are eligible to consider getting vaccinated.”
The FDA said it was “confident in the safety and effectiveness of these updated vaccines” which are “expected to provide good protection against COVID-19 from the currently circulating variants.”
“Barring the emergence of a markedly more virulent variant, the FDA anticipates that the composition of COVID-19 vaccines may need to be updated annually, as is done for the seasonal influenza vaccine.”
The FDA is still reviewing a COVID-19 vaccine from Novavax that, unlike the Moderna and Pfizer options, does not use mRNA technology.
