Moderna Booster Dose OK'd, But Few In NJ Opt To Get Third Shot

NEW JERSEY — On Thursday, an advisory committee with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously voted to approve the Moderna coronavirus vaccine for booster shots.

Then on Friday, an FDA panel also unanimously approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for a second or booster shot. Johnson & Johnson actually recommends that all U.S. adults —not just the immunocompromised — get a booster. J&J provides the lowest immune protection out of all three coronavirus vaccines. Read more: Johnson & Johnson Asks FDA To Approve Booster Shot

The Pfizer vaccine was already approved for booster shots.

Thousands of people have gotten the Moderna third shot anyway, even before it was approved by the FDA: By Thursday, 55,944 New Jersey residents have already gotten the Moderna third shot, even though it was not technically approved as a "booster," said Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli. People have been asking pharmacies for the Moderna third shot, and pharmacists have been giving them out.

"The Moderna shots are not boosters, per se," said Gov. Phil Murphy of those who already got the third Moderna shot. "They're third shots, so those have been eligible since I think mid-August, and that is for folks with chronic medical conditions — immunocompromised, pardon me, is the phrase."

Moderna's booster shot is a lower dosage than the initial two shots; it is only one single dose of 50 micrograms. The initial Moderna shot was two doses of 100-microgram shots.

However, the number of New Jersey residents who are electing to get the booster shot is well under what Murphy and his administration had hoped. Less than a third of the one million people eligible for booster shots have actually gotten one, state health officials said this week.

So far, more than 216,000 people have gotten the Pfizer booster shot in New Jersey, and just over 55,000 have gotten the Moderna booster.

"But we know more than more than one million are eligible," said Persichilli Wednesday, urging those eligible to get the third shot.

"The department is focused on increasing booster doses and third doses. I would urge those who are eligible to get a booster shot as soon as possible so you have that extra protection as the holidays approach," she said.

Murphy previously said the state would be reopening three vaccine megasites, but so far only one has opened, the Gloucester County site in South Jersey. And that site is no longer at Rowan University; it is at the Gloucester County public works department. Read more: NJ Vaccine Megasites Reopening As COVID Booster Shots Arrive

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously recommended the following should get a booster shot:

• Anyone older than 65;
• Adults with pre-existing conditions such as cancer; and
• Those who work in jobs that have a high amount of public interaction or interaction with sick people, such as healthcare workers, police officers, teachers, grocery store employees and public transit workers.

In the coming weeks, the CDC will expand the number of people it recommends get a booster shot, as immunity wanes over time.

New Jersey is one of only seven states that has more than 75 percent of its eligible population fully vaccinated, and 84 percent of residents have received at least one shot.

For the past few months in the state, nearly every single COVID-related death has been among the unvaccinated. New Jersey is approaching 25,000 confirmed COVID-related deaths since the pandemic first began.

In fact, there were 140 New Jersey residents who died of COVID-related illness in the past week alone, and all of them were adults who chose not to get the vaccine.

"(25,000 deaths) is a milestone we have the power to delay by ensuring everyone who is eligible gets vaccinated," said Murphy. "Vaccines turn COVID into a more beatable illness. That's exactly what the vaccines are doing."

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