BUFFALO, N.Y. — Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a second booster shot of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines for people 50 and older or immunocompromised.

What You Need To Know

  • Those eligible for either Pfizer or Moderna boosters are 50 or older and 4 months out from their last dose
  • Those eligible for just the Pfizer dose are 12 and older who are immunocompromised at 4 months out from their last dose
  • Those who have undergone organ transplant or are living with someone who is immunocompromised

Professor and Chief of Infectious Diseases at the University at Buffalo, Dr. Thomas Russo, said this second booster is important for people in those categories, but still not as important as the first booster is for those who haven’t received it.

“If you have three shots in your arm, that the likelihood of being hospitalized or having a bad outcome is low,” said Dr. Russo. “So that fourth shot gives you a small but clear benefit, but not as great of the benefit that was observed with the third dose.”

He said that information is based on studies done on people 60 and older, but in the current fight against COVID-19 and its omicron subvariants, nobody can be considered over-vaccinated.