Enlarge / A tray of ready syringes for booster vaccinations with Moderna’s vaccine. (credit score: Getty | Image alliance)

The Meals and Drug Administration has licensed booster doses of each the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for all folks ages 18 and up, the businesses introduced individually this morning.

The boosters are to be given a minimum of six months after an individual’s second dose and, based on Moderna, can be utilized for mix-and-match boosting. That’s, individuals who acquired two Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses earlier this yr may get a Moderna booster and vice versa.

Preliminary knowledge launched final month from a mix-and-match booster trial run by the Nationwide Institutes of Well being discovered that Moderna boosters appeared to generate the best antibody ranges general, together with in individuals who had beforehand acquired two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Nevertheless, the trial used a full dose of the Moderna vaccine (100 micrograms) for a booster, whereas the FDA has licensed a half-dose shot (50 micrograms) for boosters. It is unclear if the half dose presents the identical edge over boosting with a 3rd Pfizer-BioNTech shot, which is given on the similar dosage as the primary two pictures (30 micrograms).