The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has officially issued its suggestion for the general public use of the updated COVID-19 booster doses from Pfizer and Moderna. 

The general public health agency released its suggestion via its website on Thursday, saying the boosters from Pfizer and Moderna may very well be used for people ages 12 and above and other people ages 18 and above, respectively. 

On why the brand new boosters are essential within the prolonged pandemic, the CDC said they contain omicron BA.4 and BA.5 spike protein components that help restore and ensure protection from SARS-CoV-2 and its newer, more transmissible and immune-invading variants. 

The CDC’s suggestion comes days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the bivalent COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna to be used as boosters. 

Each boosters were approved by the FDA as single-dose jabs. FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said the vaccines and boosters will “proceed to save lots of countless lives and stop probably the most serious outcomes (hospitalization and death) of COVID-19.”

Interestingly, the boosters received negative publicity after The Wall Street Journal learned that the federal agency would authorize the updated vaccines even when data from clinical trials involving humans were still unavailable. 

The each day newspaper said the FDA can be bypassing its normal decision-making process in favor of the sooner release of booster shots. As an alternative of waiting for human testing results, the agency would depend on data from mice trials and real-world evidence from the currently available vaccines and test results of previous booster versions. 

“Real-world evidence from the present mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, which have been administered to thousands and thousands of people, show us that the vaccines are protected. As we all know from prior experience, strain changes will be made without affecting safety,” Califf wrote on Twitter.

In its latest press release, the CDC indicated it could approve the updated COVID-19 boosters for other pediatric groups once data can be found and the FDA authorizes their use and rollout as a part of the country’s robust vaccination program.