Mayo Clinic
Health officials are developing a plan to begin offering COVID-19 booster shots to all people in the U.S. as soon as this fall to maximize vaccine protection. But before booster shots can be offered, two things will need to happen: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will need to conduct an independent evaluation to determine the safety and effectiveness of a third dose of the Moderna or Pfizer messenger RNA vaccines.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will need to issue booster dose recommendations.
As for those who received the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, it’s too soon to tell whether booster shots will be recommended.
The Mayo Clinic News Network team sat down with Dr. Melanie Swift, co-chair of the Mayo Clinic COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation and Distribution Work Group. In this Q&A, Dr. Swift answers questions about COVID-19 booster shots: