The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is highlighting recent updates to federal government recommendations for COVID-19 boosters and additional doses following the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) recent authorization for children as young as age 12 to receive boosters.
As DSHS noted in an email release, adolescents aged 12 to 17 are now recommended to receive a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine (in a purple- or gray-cap vial), following FDA’s updated emergency use authorization last week that OK’d the Pfizer booster for ages 12 to 15. Now, everyone 12 and older in the general public who received the two-shot Pfizer series can receive a booster five months after receiving shot No. 2.
The state health agency also noted that federal authorities recommend “additional” Pfizer doses for moderately or severely immunocompromised children aged 5 to 11, which can be administered 28 days after their second dose. (“Additional” doses refer to an extra shot for the immunocompromised population, whereas the term “booster” refers to extra shots for the general public to bolster maximized immunity that has waned over time.)
DSHS’s release noted that for recipients of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine as their initial shot, the interval recommendation to receive a booster remains at two months following that initial vaccination. On Friday, Jan. 7, FDA updated its emergency use authorization for the Moderna booster shot, recommending the booster at five months following a person’s second Moderna shot.
Adults (18 years and older) can “mix and match” their booster, meaning the manufacturer of their original shot series and the manufacturer of their booster dose don’t have to be the same.
Last Updated On
April 05, 2022
Originally Published On
January 07, 2022