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FDA panel recommends Johnson & Johnson COVID booster for people 18 and up

The advisers unanimously voted that those who got the one-dose vaccine should get a booster at least two months later.

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An advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration on Friday unanimously recommended that people who received Johnson & Johnson's single-dose coronavirus vaccine get a booster shot at least two months later. 

The J&J vaccine was approved earlier this year for emergency use authorization for people 18 years and older. The FDA generally follows the recommendations of the vaccine advisory panel. Later Friday, the panel is expected to hear a presentation from the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on its "mix and match" booster study. 

The COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing hospitalization. Over the summer, as the delta variant swept across the US, the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths surged. As some states see record numbers of cases, unvaccinated people have accounted for nearly all the hospitalizations and deaths -- over 97% as of July.

Around 2.7% of people in low-income countries have received one dose of any coronavirus vaccine, according to Our World in Data.