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Support for Moderna Booster

An advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration has voted in support of authorizing a booster for Moderna's SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, CNN reports.

Moderna is seeking an emergency use authorization for a booster that is half the initial vaccine dose for adults six months after their first two inoculations. The Pfizer-BioNTech SARS-CoV-2 vaccine has already received authorization for boosters for people 65 years old and older and for younger individuals at increased risk.

According to CNN, the FDA panel voted unanimously to support the half-dose booster after six months for people 65 years old and older and for younger individuals at increased risk due to underlying medical conditions or exposure at work.

Despite that, CNBC notes that not all panel members were fully convinced by the data. "The data are not perfect but these are extraordinary times and we have to work with imperfect data," Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's Eric Rubin tells CNN.

CNBC adds that the final decision from FDA should come in a few days, followed by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discussion and decision.

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