Johnson & Johnson announced Tuesday that it has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant emergency authorization for a booster shot of its COVID-19 vaccine for individuals aged 18 years and older.<\/p>\n
In a statement,<\/a>\u00a0the company said it based its filing on the results of a late-stage clinical trial that found a booster dose of its single-shot vaccine given 56 days after the first dose provided 94 percent protection against symptomatic COVID-19, and 100 percent protection against severe and critical disease at least 14 days after the second dose.<\/p>\n The move comes as the Biden administration ramps up its campaign to administer booster doses.<\/p>\n The U.S. began rolling out booster doses late last month. More than 5.7 million people have received a booster dose,\u00a0according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n The FDA has already authorized booster shots for Pfizer\u2019s vaccine for individuals aged 65 and older and those at high risk of severe disease.<\/p>\n Moderna\u00a0has also begun submitting data<\/a>\u00a0to the agency about a booster dose of its vaccine.<\/p>\n