Lots of new data for FDA experts

Mixing vaccines may have benefits, and Fauci describes post-pandemic Covid control

Booster data, deliberations takes center stage

Today and tomorrow, the FDA’s outside vaccine experts will review a rafter of data on COVID-19 vaccines.

• Interim data from the “Mix and Match” vaccine study led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases indicates that any of the three COVID-19 vaccines works as. booster to increase immune response, but people who received the J&J shot as their first dose benefit the most from a Moderna shot as their booster. The study is available on a pre-print server, and NPR’s Scott Hensley explains it here. NIH scientists will present this data on Friday at the FDA meeting.

Thursday’s agenda includes consideration of Moderna booster shots and an update on booster shot experience in Israel, where booster shots were started months earlier than other countries. On Friday, the panel will consider Johnson & Johnson booster shots and receive a report on a study that tested giving people a different type of vaccine as a booster instead of two or three shots of the same one. The full agenda and scientific data are available on the FDA website. My summary and links to more information are below.

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