COVID-19 Update

After almost 19 months, I live for the day I can stop doing this COVID update thing. But I'm pretty heavily invested, and at the risk of plunging headlong into the Sunk Cost Fallacy, I shall carry on - muddling through and stumbling forward.

Axios:

J&J asks FDA to approve COVID-19 booster shots

Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve a booster shot of its one-dose COVID-19 vaccine for people 18 years and older.

Why it matters:

The company last month released data from a global study on the efficacy of a booster shot for its vaccine, which showed that the protection offered by its coronavirus vaccine was strengthened by a second dose.

What they're saying:

“Our clinical program has found that a booster of our COVID-19 vaccine increases levels of protection for those who have received our single-shot vaccine to 94 percent," said Mathai Mammen, head of research for J&J’s Janssen unit.

The big picture:

The U.S. government last month approved Pfizer booster shots for those 65 and older, workers in high-risk jobs and other vulnerable Americans.

Yes, but: Moderna's and J&J's approval may be more complicated than Pfizer's because there is less data from booster shot trials for their vaccines.

Go deeper: Data holes could complicate Moderna and J&J booster shot process