US: FDA advisors recommend second shot of J&J’s single-shot vaccine

US: FDA advisors recommend second shot of J&J’s single-shot vaccine

Outside advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday voted unanimously to recommend regulators authorise a second shot of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J’s) Covid-19 vaccine to better protect Americans who received the one-dose vaccine.

The Advisory Committee backed the shots for all J&J recipients aged 18 and older at least two months after their first dose.

After hearing presentations from J&J and FDA scientists, the advisory panel members asked if J&J’s single-dose vaccine should actually be considered a two-dose shot for everyone. They pointed to the lower levels of virus neutralising antibodies it provokes compared to vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology from Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc /BioNTech SE. On Thursday, the panel unanimously backed booster shots of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for Americans aged 65 and older and those at high risk of severe illness or occupational exposure to the virus.