JUST IN: The US_FDA has expanded the emergency use authorization of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to allow adults age 50 and older to get a second booster as early as 4 months after their first booster dose of any COVID-19 vaccine
The FDA had previously allowed second booster shots for anyone 12 years of age or older who was severely immune deficient, starting four months after their first booster.
There is general scientific agreement that third doses help strengthen immunity against severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19. But the science is far from settled on if or even when fourth doses might be needed since the vaccines continue to offer a high degree of protection against COVID-19 hospitalization and death, even as protection against illness wanes.
In a large study of more than half a million adults over the age of 60, those who received a second booster, or fourth dose, of a COVID-19 vaccine had 78% lower odds of death during the Omicron wave compared to those who had a third shot at least four months earlier. But the numbers of deaths were relatively low in both groups.
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