FDA advisory panel will review J&J data next week and vote on whether to recommend boosters<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, Oct. 5, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Johnson & Johnson announced Tuesday that it has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve emergency use of its COVID-19 booster shot.<\/p>\n
The request to authorize an extra vaccine dose for people who have previously received the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine was filed Tuesday, the company said in a statement. The company noted that it provided the FDA with data on booster intervals ranging from two to six months, but it did not formally recommend one to the agency.<\/p>\n
“Our clinical program has found that a booster of our COVID-19 vaccine increases levels of protection for those who have received our single-shot vaccine to 94 percent,” Mathai Mammen, M.D., global head of Janssen Research & Development, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, said in the company’s statement. “We look forward to our discussions with the FDA and other health authorities to support their decisions regarding boosters.”<\/p>\n
Last month, J&J released data suggesting its vaccine was 81 percent effective against hospitalizations at least five months after vaccination. An FDA advisory panel will review the J&J data next week and vote on whether to recommend boosters. The panel will do the same review for the Moderna booster shot during that meeting, the Associated Press<\/em> reported. If both the FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention give their approval, booster shots of the two companies’ COVID-19 vaccines could become available later this month.<\/p>\n Associated Press<\/em> Article<\/a><\/p>\n