Welcome to another MedCram COVID-19 update. We're going to talk about the FDA recommendations to the
CDC on booster vaccines for COVID-19 and mixing and matching, and, of course, we'll put a link in
the description below to this news release. So at the time of this writing, these are the FDA
recommendations, which will then go to the CDC and then have to be signed off by the CDC director.
So the three vaccines are Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and finally the Johnson-Johnson.
And as you may recall, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is given as a first dose, followed by three weeks,
and then there is a second dose. The Moderna is given as a first dose and then it's about
four weeks and then the second dose is given. And then finally, the Johnson-Johnson vaccine is given
once. So what the FDA is saying currently is for those people that had the Pfizer-BioNTech, they can
get a booster six months after their second dose, and they have to be either 65 years of age plus,
or 18 to 64 years of age and at high risk. So they have a comorbidity or they are frequently exposed.
So that would be like a healthcare provider, somebody working in a environment where they're
exposed often to COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 positivity. In terms of Moderna, they have exactly the same
criteria. So, six months and you have to be either 65 years of age plus or 18 to 64 and high risk
or frequent exposure, like a health care worker, etc. For those that took the Johnson and Johnson,
you only need to wait two months after your single shot of the Johnson-Johnson and there
all you need to be is just 18 years plus. There is no qualification of 65 years of age
or high risk or anything else. In other words, they're looking at you to get a second dose or
a booster after the first Johnson and Johnson. Now, in terms of what it is that you can actually get,
you can get as a booster any one of the three vaccines, so you can get the Pfizer for a booster
if you had the Pfizer, you can get the Pfizer vaccine if you got Moderna, or you can get the
Pfizer vaccine if you got the J and J. Also, you could get what is known as the half-dose Moderna,
which is the booster shot, if you got the Pfizer, the Moderna, or the Johnson-Johnson vaccine.
And also you can get the Johnson and Johnson as a booster if you got Pfizer before, the Johnson-
Johnson booster if you got Moderna before, and of course you can get the Johnson and Johnson
if you got the Johnson and Johnson before. So just to quickly clarify here, this is the
FDA recommendations that are going to the CDC and could be signed off by the CDC director in
the next few days. This is a news press release on October 20th and again Pfizer-BioNTech six
months after the second dose if you are either 65 years of age plus or 18 to 64 and a high risk
group or frequently exposed, you can either get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a half Moderna dose, or
the Johnson-Johnson vaccine. If you had the Moderna and it's been six months since your last dose and
you're 65 years of age or older, you can go ahead and get it, or if you're 18 to 64 and high risk or
have frequent exposure, you can get the Pfizer-BioNTech, the half-dose Moderna, or the Johnson
and Johnson booster. If you had Johnson-Johnson and it's been more than two months, you just have
to be 18 years of age or older, and you can get the Pfizer, the half dose Moderna, or the Johnson-
Johnson vaccine as your booster. And so in terms of analysis, here, notice that there are age limits or
there's age cutoffs here for the boosters for these vaccines that already had a second shot,
there isn't one really for the Johnson and Johnson. So what they're saying to those that receive the
Johnson and Johnson vaccine is go out and get any one of the authorized or approved vaccines
if it's been more than two months and you're more than 18 years of age. So I hope this clarifies for
you whether or not you qualify to get a booster, and I hope you share this with as many people as
possible so they are also clear as well. Thanks for joining us, and follow us at MedCram.com