Moderna asks FDA to OK COVID-19 booster shots for all adults

Moderna refiled its application to the Food and Drug Administration on Nov. 17 to approve vaccine booster doses for all adults ages 18 years old and older, according to a CNBC report.

The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cleared the shots last month for everyone age 65 years old and older as well as adults who are at a higher risk of developing severe COVID or who work or live in settings that places them at greater risk of catching the virus.

[Read more: Retailers begin offering Moderna, J&J COVID-19 booster shots] 

Moderna’s revised application, which was originally submitted in September, comes as the FDA is expected to authorize Pfizer-BioNTech’s booster shots for all adults as early as this week. If the CDC gives it the OK, Pfizer’s third shots could be administered as early as this weekend to adults who’ve completed their first two rounds of shots at least six months ago.

Pfizer’s boosters, like Moderna’s, were previously authorized for the elderly and those people at high risk. People ages 18 years old and older who have received Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine are already eligible for a booster.

[Read more: FDA authorizes COVID booster for certain immunocompromised individuals]

CDC director Rochelle Walensky said on Nov. 17 that the agency plans to “act swiftly” on booster doses as soon as the FDA reviews the data and provides authorization, according to the report.