The Food and Drug Administration authorized both Pfizer and Moderna to give a second booster dose of their COVID-19 vaccines to individuals aged 50 and older and to those who are immunocompromised.
The additional shot follows the completion of a three-dose primary vaccination series at least four months after the first booster.
“This action will now make a second booster dose of these vaccines available to other populations at higher risk for severe disease, hospitalization and death,” the FDA said.
In addition, the FDA authorized a second booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals aged 12 and older with certain kinds of immunocompromise at least four months after the first booster. This includes people who have undergone solid organ transplantation or who are living with an equivalent level of immunocompromised conditions.
The authorization comes as COVID-19 cases have been falling in the U.S., and the CDC said most areas in the country no longer need mask mandates indoors.
However, officials are carefully watching the BA.2 subvariant of omicron, which is responsible for a major spike of infections in Europe.
The omicron subvariant is now the dominant strain in the U.S., according to the CDC, responsible for about 55 percent of all new infections. There’s no evidence the BA.2 version of omicron is any more severe, though it is more contagious.
CVS said that eligible patients can schedule an additional dose four months after their initial booster at CVS.com, MinuteClinic.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app. Same-day or walk-in vaccination appointments may be possible, CVS said, but subject to local demand.
