Moderna, Johnson & Johnson approved for booster shots in US

By Mucahit Oktay

NEW YORK (AA) - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved emergency use of booster doses by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FDA said in a statement that it has approved the "use of each of the available COVID-19 vaccines as a heterologous (or 'mix and match') booster dose in eligible individuals following completion of primary vaccination with a different available COVID-19 vaccine."

The agency noted that the use of a single booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may be administered at least two months after completion of the single-dose primary regimen to individuals 18 years of age and older.

Meanwhile, the use of a single booster dose of the Moderna shots that may be administered at least six months after the second doses to those aged 65 and as well as those over 18 years old working in risky jobs.

The FDA is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 5 to 11.