US plans for Covid-19 booster shot for vaccinated people facing complications

Washington: President Joe Biden’s plan to start delivery of booster shots by September 20 for most Americans who received COVID-19 vaccines is facing complications that could delay the availability for those who received the Moderna vaccine, administration officials said Friday.

Biden announced last month that his administration was preparing to administer boosters to provide more enduring protection against the coronavirus, pending approvals from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.

He recommended boosters eight months after the second shot.

​However, those agencies are awaiting critical data before signing off on the third doses, with Moderna’s vaccine increasingly seen as unlikely to make the September 20 date.

According to one official, Moderna produced inadequate data for the FDA and CDC to approve the third dose of its vaccine.

The FDA has requested additional data that is likely to delay those boosters into October.

Pfizer is further along in the review process, with an FDA panel review on boosters on September 17.