Moderna and Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday said that US regulators should authorise booster shots of their COVID-19 vaccines, citing data that showed waning effectiveness of both over time.
The comments were released in briefing documents by the companies ahead of a meeting of the FDA's outside expert advisers on Thursday and Friday to discuss booster doses of the vaccines.
Moderna cited data supporting the public health benefit of a booster dose and made a case for a US authorisation of the shot in adults aged 65 and over as well as high-risk individuals.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is currently offered as a booster dose in the United States and available to people aged 65 and older as well as to those who are at high risk of severe disease or are regularly exposed to the virus.
Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday underscored the benefits of a booster and said its data suggested the shot could benefit high-risk individuals if administered two months after the original dose and after six months for lower-risk Americans.
The meeting will discuss Moderna's booster shot on Thursday, followed by a discussion around the J&J booster dose on Friday.
Briefing documents from the regulator's scientists were expected to be released later on Tuesday.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third term on Friday, despite a six-month-long election dispute, international calls for him to stand aside and an increase in the US reward offered for his capture.
US President-elect Donald Trump said at his sentencing on Friday for his criminal conviction stemming from hush money paid to an adult movie star that the case has been a "terrible experience."
Wildfires menacing Los Angeles have killed at least 10 people and devoured nearly 10,000 structures, with five fires burning into a third night into Friday as dry desert winds fanning the flames again gathered strength.
An official Palestinian tally of direct deaths in the Israel-Hamas war likely undercounted the number of casualties by 41 per cent through the middle of 2024 as the Gaza Strip's healthcare infrastructure unravelled, according to a study published on Thursday.
Israel confirmed that a hostage found killed in Gaza was Hamza Ziyadne, the son of another hostage, Youssef Ziyadne, found dead alongside him in an underground tunnel near the southern city of Rafah.