On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated recommendations for booster shots, saying that people who got the Moderna vaccine should now seek out a booster five months after their second dose.
Previous guidance recommended that booster shots come six months after the second dose.
The move comes just days after the CDC issued similar guidance for those who got the Pfizer vaccine. Those who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine should still seek out a booster two months after their first dose.
The new recommendations come as the U.S. is experiencing record-setting transmission of COVID-19 caused by the highly contagious omicron variant.
“The country is in the middle of a wave of the highly contagious omicron variant, which spreads more rapidly than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and other variants that have emerged,” said Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “Vaccination is our best defense against COVID-19, including the circulating variants, and shortening the length of time between completion of a primary series and a booster dose may help reduce waning immunity. Today’s action also brings consistency in the timing for administration of a booster dose among the available mRNA vaccines. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated—it’s never too late to get your COVID-19 vaccine or booster.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.