[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] The United States has approved the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the second booster shot, for adults aged 50 and over.
According to AP News and others, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the fourth dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for adults aged 50 and older on the 29th (local time). The fourth vaccine shot can be administered at least four months after the third dose.
This approval was made without going through an advisory committee composed of external experts. Until now, the FDA had only allowed the fourth dose for people with compromised immune systems, but this approval expands the scope. Previously, Pfizer and Moderna had requested approval for the fourth dose for adults aged 65 and older. Along with this, the FDA also approved a second booster shot for Americans aged 12 and older with weakened immune systems.
This decision was made amid the increasing spread of the stealth Omicron (BA.2) variant in some U.S. states following Europe. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that as of the week ending on the 26th, 55% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. were BA.2. This is the first time the BA.2 variant has become the dominant strain, surpassing 50% of cases.
Meanwhile, according to a recent study by an Israeli research team, elderly people aged 60 and over who received the fourth dose of the Pfizer vaccine showed a lower mortality rate compared to those who received the third dose. Among 328,000 people who received the fourth dose, there were 92 deaths, whereas among 234,000 people who received the third dose, the number of deaths reached 232.
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