FDA okays 2nd booster of Pfizer, Moderna

U.S. regulators cleared second booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for adults 50 and older, making millions more people eligible for the shots as concern grows about a potential new wave of infections.

Those who have received a first booster dose of the drugmakers’ shots at least four months earlier can now get another, the Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday.

For most people, the second booster will be a fourth shot, while it will be the third for those who got initial single-shot immunisations from Johnson & Johnson.

While highly transmissible omicron has declined overall, the virus’s BA.2 strain continues to spread, leading to concerns about a resurgence and the need for additional safeguards.

“Current evidence suggests some waning of protection over time against serious outcomes from Covid-19 in older and immunocompromised individuals,” Peter Marks, who leads the FDA centre that oversees vaccines, said. “Based on an analysis of emerging data, a second booster dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine could help increase protection levels for these higher-risk individuals.”

The FDA also authorized a second booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for certain immunocompromised people 12 and older, and Moderna’s vaccine for a similar population 18 and older.

UK police fine 20 people over ‘partygate’ scandal

British police announced on Tuesday they would be issuing 20 initial fines, after probing suspected breaches of Covid-19 lockdown laws by PMBoris Johnson and his staff in Downing Street.

London’s Metropolitan Police said it would not be disclosing the number or identities of those being fined, but Johnson’s spokesman confirmed that the UK PM was not among those hit in the first wave of sanctions.

“We will today initially begin to refer 20 fixed penalty notices to be issued for breaches of Covid-19 regulations,” the Met said in a statement, adding that its investigation was continuing.

“We are making every effort to progress this investigation at speed and have completed a number of assessments,” it added. Because there was still a “significant amount” of evidence to be assessed, they did not rule out further action.