Booster Dose
COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized, and dying. As with other vaccine-preventable diseases, you are protected best from COVID-19 when you stay up to date with the recommended vaccinations, including recommended boosters.
booster dose
If you recently had COVID-19, you still need to stay up to date with your vaccines, but you may consider delaying your next vaccine dose (whether a primary dose or booster) by 3 months from:
Novavax booster: You may get a Novavax booster if you are unable or unwilling to receive a Pfizer or Moderna updated COVID-19 booster and you meet the following requirements:
If you are not yet eligible for a booster, you are considered up to date. Otherwise, stay up to date by getting the booster recommended for you as soon as a booster is recommended for you based on your age and the appropriate time has passed since completing the primary series.
Update: Adult New Yorkers are eligible for a bivalent booster dose 2 months after completion of a primary series. Many children are also eligible for a bivalent booster, depending on their age and primary series.
Some people are immunocompromised (have a weakened immune system) due to a medical condition or from receipt of immunosuppressive medications or treatments. Learn more about which medical conditions put you at increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness and death. You can self-attest to your moderately or severely immunocompromised status, which means you do not need any documentation of your status to receive COVID-19 vaccine doses you might be eligible to receive.
People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised and who received COVID-19 vaccines not available in the United States should either complete or restart the recommended COVID-19 vaccine series, including a booster, in the United States. For more information, talk to your healthcare provider, or see the COVID-19 Interim Clinical Considerations.
No, vaccines used for the primary vaccination series should be the same product or brand. However, if the mRNA vaccine product given for the first two doses is not available or is unknown, either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (mRNA COVID-19 vaccines) may be administered for the third primary dose.
A third primary dose may prevent serious and possibly life-threatening COVID-19 in people who may not have responded to their two-dose mRNA COVID-19 vaccine primary series. People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised who have low or no protection after two doses of mRNA vaccines may have an improved immune response after a third primary dose of the same vaccine.
For people who are immunocompromised, the third primary dose is the final dose of the primary series of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Boosters are shots that enhance or restore protection against COVID-19, which may have decreased over time.
People can stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccination by completing a primary series and receiving the most recent booster dose recommended for them by CDC. The people you live or spend time with can help protect you and themselves by staying up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines too.
Children aged 6 months and older with these conditions may be eligible for an additional dose of Pfizer or Moderna. Children aged 6 months to 5 years can get an additional dose of Moderna, followed by the updated Moderna booster.
Some people may consider waiting 8 weeks between doses of Pfizer, Moderna, or Novavax. More time between doses may reduce the risk of myocarditis. Males aged 12-39 may benefit the most from waiting 8 weeks.
Everyone 5+ who has had their primary series should get the updated booster at least 2 months after any COVID vaccine or booster dose. You should get the updated booster even if you have received a booster shot before.
People 18 and older who are unable to get the updated Pfizer or Moderna booster can get the Novavax booster. Wait at least 6 months after finishing your primary series before getting the Novavax booster.
Children 6 months to 5 years old with these conditions who got Moderna as their primary series can get an additional dose of Moderna. Additional doses should be the same vaccine as the primary series.
Mixing vaccines is not allowed for children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. Children in this age group who receive the Moderna vaccine can get the Moderna booster, and children in this age group who receive the Pfizer vaccine can get the Pfizer booster.
As of Oct. 12, 2022, the new COVID-19 booster recommendations for people ages 5 years and older is to receive 1 bivalent mRNA booster after completion of a monovalent primary series or previously received monovalent booster dose(s); these recommendations replace all prior booster recommendations for this age group.
The CDC recommends a bivalent (containing components of both the original strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the omicron variant of the virus) COVID-19 booster for people ages 5 years and older. The bivalent vaccines, which offer better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant than the earlier, monovalent vaccines, have been authorized for use as a single booster dose administered at least two months after primary or booster vaccination. The monovalent COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be available for booster doses in patients over the age of 5. However, the monovalent vaccines will remain available for the primary vaccine series in all patients and for booster doses in patients younger than 5 years old.
A COVID booster shot is an additional dose or doses of a vaccine given after the protection provided by the original shot(s) has begun to decrease over time. The booster helps people maintain strong protection from severe coronavirus disease.
Please check your state or local resources. Retail pharmacies, mobile vaccination clinics (walk-up) and state and local vaccination sites offer booster appointments. Some locations may offer walk-up vaccination times.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to allow for use of a single booster dose, to be administered at least six months after completion of the primary series in:
Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA), was approved by the FDA on Aug. 23, for the prevention of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in individuals 16 years of age and older. On Aug. 25, 2021, the FDA received a supplement from Pfizer Inc. to their biologics license application for Comirnaty seeking approval of a single booster dose to be administered approximately six months after completion of the primary vaccination series for individuals 16 years of age and older.
Additional analysis conducted by the manufacturer, as requested by the FDA, compared the rates of COVID-19 accrued during the current Delta variant surge among original clinical trial participants who completed the primary two-dose vaccination series early in the clinical trial to those who completed a two-dose series later in the study. The analysis submitted by the company showed that during the study period of July and August 2021, the incidence of COVID-19 was higher among the participants who completed their primary vaccine series earlier, compared to participants who completed it later. The FDA determined that the rate of breakthrough COVID-19 reported during this time period translates to a modest decrease in the efficacy of the vaccine among those vaccinated earlier.
Safety was evaluated in 306 participants 18 through 55 years of age and 12 participants 65 years of age and older who were followed for an average of over two months. The most commonly reported side effects by the clinical trial participants who received the booster dose of the vaccine were pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, as well as fatigue, headache, muscle or joint pain and chills. Of note, swollen lymph nodes in the underarm were observed more frequently following the booster dose than after the primary two-dose series.
Since Dec. 11, 2020, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine has been available under EUA for individuals 16 years of age and older. The authorization was expanded on May 10, 2021 to include those 12 through 15 years of age, and again on Aug. 12, 2021 to include the use of a third dose of a three-dose primary series in certain immunocompromised individuals 12 years of age and older. EUAs can be used by the FDA during public health emergencies to provide access to medical products that may be effective in preventing, diagnosing, or treating a disease, provided that the FDA determines that the known and potential benefits of a product, when used to prevent, diagnose, or treat the disease, outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.
The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18 years of age and older. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older.
WHO, with support of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization and its COVID-19 Vaccines Working Group, continues to review the emerging evidence on the need for and timing of a booster dose for the currently available COVID-19 vaccines which have received Emergency Use Listing (EUL). This statement reflects the current understanding of vaccine performance and supply, as of the time of update. 041b061a72