Vaccine preference for booster doses ATAGI expects that all currently available COVID-19 vaccines will provide a benefit, as a booster does, but prefers bivalent mRNA booster vaccines over other formulations. Pfizer original or Novavax can also be used for booster doses, but are not preferred.
Both of the mRNA vaccines available in the US are highly effective against severe COVID-19, but recent studies suggest that Moderna's elicits a stronger immune response and might be better at preventing breakthrough infections.
The bivalent vaccines are now the most widely available COVID-19 booster vaccines in Australia. They are preferred over original (ancestral) vaccines for primary vaccination in people over 12 years of age.
Despite their similarities, the Moderna doses have more than three times the amount of mRNA material (100 micrograms), compared to Pfizer (30 micrograms). The dose spacing is also different: three weeks apart for Pfizer and four weeks for Moderna.
Answer: Moderna COVID-19 can be administered as a booster (third) dose 3-6 months after the second dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was given. However, only one dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is required after completing two doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
There are limited data to suggest there is any benefit to “mixing and matching.” However if you had a reaction to one type of vaccine, getting a different vaccine for your booster may be a good option for you.
NEW YORK and MAINZ, GERMANY, March 14, 2023 —Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to provide a single booster dose of the companies' Omicron BA. 4/BA.
Approval for use in Australia
Moderna is approved and available for use as a booster in people aged 18 years and over.
If you want your booster shot(s) to be different from your original vaccine, that would also make sense. If you originally got the Pfizer vaccine, switching to the Moderna vaccine has been shown to result in a good immune response. The same goes for switching to Pfizer if you originally got Moderna.
Moderna data suggest new Covid booster is more effective against Omicron variants. New data indicate Moderna's Covid bivalent booster may be more effective against currently circulating Omicron variants of the virus than its original vaccine, the company said Monday.
Analysis shows that bivalent COVID-19 boosters are more effective than the original boosters at preventing severe COVID-19 from the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
Researchers observed that even at 28 days after vaccination, average antibody levels in older people remained 1.5 times higher in those who had taken the Moderna booster.
Please note, if you receive the Moderna booster, you will receive half of the original Moderna dose. An additional dose is administered to people with moderately to severely compromised immune systems. This additional dose is intended to improve immunocompromised people's response to their initial vaccine series.
Moderna uses the same mRNA technology as Pfizer-BioNTech and had a similarly high efficacy at preventing symptomatic disease when the companies applied for authorization; it also needs to be stored in freezer-level temperatures.
Mixing vaccines may enhance the immune response, and it increases flexibility for when people need a booster dose but doses of the vaccine they first received are not available.
The monovalent Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine is no longer authorized for use in the United States.
However, within the wide confidence intervals of our estimates, vaccine efficacy against symptomatic disease was 65% at most. Our data provide evidence that a fourth dose of mRNA vaccine is immunogenic, safe, and somewhat efficacious (primarily against symptomatic disease).
Similarly, the effectiveness of Pfizer or Moderna BA. 4/5 vaccines against hospitalisation or death during an Omicron-dominant period was estimated at 61.8% (95% CI: 48.2– - 71.8) in a US test-negative case control study.
The efficacy of a 4-dose vaccination regimen against BA. 5 infection was estimated to be 16% in individuals without any previous SARS-CoV-2 exposure. In contrast, vaccine efficacies were estimated to be 89% and 94% in individuals with previous BA. 1 and BA.
The study findings indicated that a second booster vaccine dose of SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan strain-like mRNA vaccines provided greater protection than the initial booster dose administered six to seven months earlier.
Are there any side effects to the booster? Pain at the injection site and headaches were commonly reported side effects, but the booster dose has been shown to have a lower likelihood of side effects than the second dose.
An FDA advisory committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine as a booster for people 65 and older and others at high risk.
3 DOSAGE FORMS AND STRENGTHS
Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine is a suspension for injection. Each primary series dose is 0.5 mL. The booster dose is 0.25 mL.
The rate of positive tests after 20 weeks was 164 per 1,000 people for those who had Pfizer and 160 for Moderna. This means that there were around 4 fewer (95% confidence interval is 3.0 to 5.5) positive tests per 1,000 people for Moderna than for Pfizer after 20 weeks.
How efficacious is the vaccine? The Moderna vaccine after two doses and a first booster dose has been shown to have very high effectiveness against severe disease, hospitalizations and death, and modest effectiveness against symptomatic illness.