US CDC signs off on second Omicron-updated COVID booster for older adults

April 19 (Reuters) - Older people and those with weakened immune systems may get a second dose of Omicron-targeting COVID-19 vaccines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday.

The agency's decision after its advisory committee's meeting aligns it with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authorization on Tuesday for a second dose of Omicron-updated booster for the specified high-risk population.

Adults aged 65 years and older can take a second dose of the updated vaccine, the CDC said, while people who are immunocompromised can get additional doses. It also said the original COVID-19 vaccine will no longer be recommended for use in the United States.

The FDA had also said on Tuesday the updated shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna would become the new primary COVID vaccine. It withdrew its emergency-use authorization for the older messenger RNA vaccines that target only the original version of coronavirus.

Monovalent COVID-19 vaccines from Novavax or Johnson & Johnson's Janssen were not affected by the changes made today, the agency said.

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In February, a working group of CDC advisers had said there was not enough evidence to support recommending more than one COVID-19 booster shot a year for the specified population, but supported flexibility in recommendations for the immunocompromised to get more frequent doses.