Moderna has asked the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization of a fourth COVID vax dose for adults 18 and older.
Earlier this week, Pfizer and BioNTech asked the FDA for EUA of a fourth dose of their COVID-19 vaccine as well, but their application was intended for adults 65 and older.
Moderna says that the request to include younger adults is so that health care providers have the flexibility to determine appropriate use of the booster in their patients of any age who are at higher risk or immunocompromised.
Both applications used recent research coming from Israeli scientists that demonstrated a possible correlation between a fourth jab and a lower risk of infection and severe disease because of the omicron variant.
Moderna is still holding trials for their omicron-specific booster and a bivalent omicron-specific booster.
