Moderna asks FDA to authorize COVID-19 booster for all adults

Moderna announced Wednesday that it has asked the US Food and Drug Administration to extend the emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 booster to all adults. Moderna's booster is half the dose of its original COVID-19 vaccine. 

The FDA authorized Moderna's booster last month for everyone age 65 and older, adults who are at risk of severe COVID-19 because of a medical condition and adults who are at risk of COVID-19 exposure because of "frequent institutional or occupational exposure" (where they work or live). 

The agency also authorized heterologous boosters, or "mixing and matching," for an extra COVID-19 vaccine last month, allowing all adults who are eligible for a booster to get any of the three COVID-19 vaccines, regardless of which one they originally received. 

Last week, Pfizer asked the FDA to authorize a booster of its COVID-19 vaccine to everyone age 18 and up. A spokesperson for the FDA said that the committee that advises the FDA prior to the agency's official authorization doesn't plan to meet to discuss Pfizer's or Moderna's latest requests, but that the FDA will "review the requests as expeditiously as possible."

Meanwhile, an independent committee advising the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to meet this Friday to discuss expanding booster eligibility, a CDC spokesperson said, and a specific agenda will be available in the coming days. Given that the CDC's committee typically meets to discuss how vaccines are distributed after they've already been authorized by the FDA, it's possible that both Moderna's and Pfizer's boosters will be authorized for every adult as soon as this week. 

All adults who received Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine are eligible for a booster. 

Moderna didn't respond to a request for comment.